Judging - Grade Level Expectations

Expectations for the Students’ Projects

Kennedy Logo Below is a list of the learning objectives & goals that our students have been taught over their enrollment at Kennedy Primary Academy in regards to the scientific process.

While they may be getting additional support within their homes, it has been our goal as a staff to help guide the students through the concepts listed as they explored the scientific process since Kindergarten.

Project Step

Expectations for Elementary School Students

Ask a question.


The student should have chosen a question that he or she can answer through performing a simple experiment.


Do background research.


The student should have referred to the following sources during the research phase:

  • Books targeted at an elementary school audience

  • Appropriate Web resources

  • Encyclopedias: for third-grade students and above

Construct a hypothesis.


Test the hypothesis by doing an experiment.


  • In grades 3-4, the student should be able to take measurements and collect accurate data. The student may be able to design his or her own simple experiment or add innovations to a known experiment.

Analyze the data and draw a conclusion.


  • In all grades, the student should have collected data in a table or written down observations. In all grades, the student should use data and observations as evidence to answer a scientific question.

  • For third and fourth grade, the student should be able to provide a simple graph and do straightforward calculations, such as finding the average.

Communicate the results.


The student should provide written information describing each step of the scientific method that he or she performed.



Students Learning Objectives (scientific process) - PDF