Memo
To: Professor Sneff
From: Matt Beaner
Subject: Science Fair Booklet Analysis for Grading
Date: January 27, 2015
The purpose of this memo is to provide an analysis of a sample technical document, in
this case a science fair booklet. The goal is to demonstrate understanding of the characteristics of
technical communication, evaluate a sample technical document for usability, and write a memo
to you for grading.
Summary
The “Science Fair Fun” booklet was successful in meeting the six characteristics of a
technical document, some more successful than others. The audience is clearly established and
addressed directly in the first two pages. It is intended to teach students the basics of scientific
procedure, give ideas for science fair projects, and push students to think about environmental
issues when designing their experiments. The EPA makes it known that they are publishing the
document and that their purpose is to spread knowledge about environmental issues. They do this
without being overly pushy or dominating the whole document with environmental knowledge,
terminology, and theory. It is a collaborative effort with references and resources from external
sources. It is also designed well allowing readers to find what they are looking for and tell what
section of the document they are in. And finally it uses both words and images effectively and
for the intended age group of the users, although in one or two sections, it does seem particularly
drawn out.
Analysis
The document I chose to analyze was the science fair booklet, “Science Fair Fun”. Being
that it’s a science fair instruction manual it clearly establishes intended audience just by the
cover page, we know it has to be for school aged children before even picking it up. It also
establishes audience by having sections addressed directly at teachers and students who will be
using it, and indicates to teachers the booklet is intended for children in grades 6 to 8. The
booklet does a good job of making sure it’s intended audience is known, and directly spoken to
throughout.
The booklet clearly helps readers solve problems; the majority of the booklet is
instructions on building a science fair project with possible project ideas and broad statements on
which direction to take projects. There are also steps to follow for any project listed with
explanations and procedures to get started on the project. These include steps such as “make
initial observations, gather information etc. The booklet is successful in directing students on
how to start their projects and what direction to take them.
This booklet is published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and I feel does
a good job of reflecting the goals for publishing the book, and as an organization in general.
They have a brief mention on the cover page with their name and website. All of the projects
To: Professor Sneff
January 27, 2015
Page 2
included in the booklet are environmentally based, and they dedicate a whole page to “what is
epa?” and “how to use this booklet” sections. These sections focus on environmental topics such
as “reduce, reuse, and recycle” and how to incorporate them into a project.
Discussing whether this publication was produced collaboratively is a more difficult topic
but it is clear there is some collaborative effort involved. Clearly this booklet cannot provide all
of the information the EPA has to offer even on the subject of a sixth grade science fair but they
do have epa.gov listed in many places where users can get more information about the EPA,
environmental concerns, and other resources. There is a references section located after the
individual projects meaning work was taken from other groups and authors for this booklet.
There is also a resources section at the end of the booklet with other documents and websites
which could be of use to potential readers, some of which are not published by the EPA. So not
only is this booklet not the work of a single person, it is not even the work of solely the EPA.
I feel the document was made to be very easy to read. There is a clear title page and notes
to students and teachers on the second page, this clears up any question as to whom the booklet
is made for. The next page is a table of contents listing the steps to a science fair, sample
projects, glossary, and resources and their location within the document. I think it was very smart
to include the table of contents because even though it is not a particularly long document, it is
good for users to know there is a glossary in the back if there are concepts they don’t understand.
The next page is a simple graphic introducing the section on how to perform a scientific
experiment; this page feels like it takes up an unnecessary amount of space for the intended age
of the audience. There is significant use of color not only to appeal to children, but also to draw
attention to sections like “what is epa?” and “what to do if a project does not work”. The sample
projects all have colored headings to indicate a new project is being explained and this theme is
carried throughout the document by either using a different color or a different font size to
represent a new topic within a larger overall one, or to transition to a whole new section in
general. The references, glossary, and resources pages are all a different color similar to the
earlier sections headings to draw attention to them.
Because this document is intended to be used by children, graphics are necessities. I feel
like the EPA did a good job of including graphics with most sections and projects to emphasize
the text and to keep the reader engaged and interested. For the most part, the use of text is kept
limited to what is necessary as to not bore the reader, but some sections, particularly the getting
started section, seem to have too much text to keep readers and don’t provide a lot of useful
information anyways. Overall the graphics are kept simple and used sparingly just to keep the
document interesting and fun.
Recommendation
I hope this technical document analysis meets all of your expectations and is easy to
grade. I analyzed where the document meets, or failed to meet the six characteristics of a good
technical document and explained it in a concise memo.