I use this each year to help my students prepare for the annual science fair. Each week, the students take a different part of the scientific method and spend time thinking about how it applies to their topic. This has worked well for getting them away from the "cookie cutter" projects that we all see - cleaning pennies, battery length, etc... The students start by picking something they are interested in, then do research to cultivate genuine questions. Through conferencing, we have been able to come up with some amazing and creative science fair projects.

I also offer a rubric for this project in my shop that you might be interested in as well.