This page is designed to give you some top tips to help you with your Science fair experience!
- Do not make your display board too 'Wordy', or people will switch off and not even try to comprehend what you are explaining. Be succinct and exact with your words, as when the judges come around, they only have a short amount of time at each students research.
- KNOW YOUR RESEARCH. If you are always reading your information off your board, the judges are going to think you didn't do the work yourself.
- Have a Logbook. This is extremely important!!! Do not type it up or make it look pretty. In fact, it would be good to drop it in a pile of mud and back over it with the car a few times to make it look authentic . From experience, people have been virtually disqualified for having neat logbooks!
- Include lots of pictures of your research being carried out, or of things relevant to your project. People are generally attracted to pictures, and it will interest them more than a page of words.
- Don't make your font too small. 16-18 point fonts are a lot easier for the judges to read at a distance than 10 or 12 point. If you need more space than you have at that size, then your project is probably not succinct enough.
- Ensure you have acknowledged any help you have received with your project, even if it was only your parents driving you everywhere!
- Be polite to the judges. First impressions do make a difference, and if you are not polite, then judges are less likely to come back and revisit your display.
- Try to act confidently. You are bound to be nervous, but just remember that all the other participants are in the same boat, and if you exude confidence then the judges are likely to think that you are certain of your conclusions and are not making it up on the spot, and that you really know your stuff!
- Enthusiasm gives the impression that you are serious about your research, enjoy it, and are willing to take things further in the future which is what the judges and other important people are looking for! Future scientists!
- The best projects are ones that have a result applicable to everyday life, for example, if you were to investigate lets say.... the reaction of coke and Mentos? Sure, easy. But when is that going to be useful? It would not be a very commercial choice so try and come up with something original and useful! Or, test something which has already been done, but compare your results with the original research. Did you draw the same conclusions? Why, why not?
From Chemistry needs editing
The best chemistry project is one that comes up with a question and gives an answer.
It is great if you can try to test something that everyone can relate to, like whether all paper towels absorb the same amount of liquid.
A key to having a great Chemistry project is testing something, then improving on the existing product to make something even better. BE ORIGINAL!
Remember to talk to your science teacher for advice and for how you can make your project better. If your school has been entering Science Fairs for a long time, chances are they will have a record of which projects were more successful than others. Who knows? They may even have log books, photos etc!
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Tips:
Talk to your teacher at the start of the year to find out which of these standards you will be doing. Then, make a plan as to how you are going to do your project during school time/after school.
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WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!!