HOW TO PREPARE
A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT
SELECTING A TOPIC: Choose something
you're interested in and something you want
to learn more about. Must be a testable
experiment-NO REPORTS WILL BE
ACCEPTED. Look through books, magazines
and safe websites for ideas.
RESEARCH: SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN
YOUR OWN WORDS, DO NOT COPY!!
After the topic has been selected, start the
research process. Research your
question/problem. Look at any
books/websites that might help you. Make
observations by simply looking at things, talk
to people, and find out as much as possible
about your topic. Write down any ideas you
have and where you got them. Keep notes of
all information needed for citing your
resources. *You will need this for the
bibliography section of your research paper.
PURPOSE AND HYPOTHESIS: The purpose
is a description of what you will do.
The hypothesis is an educated explanation as
to what you think will happen. It is a
statement that predicts how an experiment
will turn out, and why it will happen that way,
based on what you already know or found out
in your research. Your hypothesis should be
stated as a question using the “if…, then…,
because…” format. The hypothesis explains.
After doing your experiments, it may turn out
that your guess was wrong. Hypotheses do
not have to be correct—they just need to be
informed guesses. So, do not go back and
change your hypothesis.
You will need:
A Science Journal/Log Book (REQUIRED)!!
The Science Journal/log book is a separate
notebook for recording all measurements and
observations. It is where ALL ideas,
thoughts, notes, drawings or sketches,
research, information, results, and data are
written. Everything that happens during your
science fair project should be recorded
here—the more detail, the better! Remember
to write a date and time on every page.
There should be 20-30+ entries in your
science journal/log book.
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Make sure that accurate measurements
are given in your data.
It is better to have too much data than
not enough—so keep lots of notes.
When making an observation, write down
the date and time. Keep track of the
materials used, their quantities and cost.
Consider taking photographs to be used in
your research paper or as part of your
display.
The science journal will be placed in front
of your display board for the judges to
read during the science fair.
Your project will not be considered for
entry without a science journal/log book.
The Science Journal/log book may be a spiral
or composition notebook. Once started,
please do not remove any pages from your
journal or use it for other things. This
notebook is completely dedicated to your
project. The journal needs to be neat and
thorough as possible.
LIST THE MATERIALS:
DESCRIBE THE PROCEDURE: The procedure
describes the experiment in a step-by-step
sequence like a recipe where every step is
clearly explained. Another person should be
able to follow the procedure of your
experiment and get the same, or similar
results.
EXPERIMENT: Plan and organize your
experiments. Perform the experiment under
controlled conditions. Do the experiment at
least three times and get an average of the
results for your graph. Remember, the more
times you do an experiment, the more reliable
the results will be. Check your measurements
to be sure you are correct.
*PLEASE USE SAFETY WHILE CONDUCTING
YOUR EXPERIMENTS AND WHEN USING THE
INTERNET AND ADHERE TO ALL FEDERAL,
STATE, LOCAL, RCSS AND LMS RULES AND
GUIDELINES.
RECORDING YOUR DATA: Keep careful
records in your science journal/log book. As
you do your experiments, take notes and write
down everything you do and what happens.
Organize this information in an orderly
manner. Write down the date, time and any
other useful information. Write your
measurements clearly.
RESULTS: What happened?
DRAW CONCLUSIONS: What did you learn
from your experiments? Have you proved or
disproved your hypothesis? You made a guess
about what you thought would happen. Now
tell what really did happen. Explain why the
events occurred that you observed.
ABSTRACT: (OPTIONAL)-An abstract is a
summary of your project. It should state
your research question, purpose, hypothesis,
results and conclusion. It is a one-paragraph
explanation of your project.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A bibliography is a listing of
the resources and references used during the
research of your project. (See attachment).
RESEARCH PAPER: This report will provide
interested readers with a comprehensive look
at your topic and research. It includes
information collected during your research as
well as a complete description of your
experiment, data, and conclusions. The
research paper should be typed with double
spacing or neatly hand-written.
It should include:
a) Title Page- which should include your topic,
your name, school's name, grade, city, state.
b) Table of contents
c) Purpose - This is a statement of what you
plan to do. It can include a hypothesis or
educated guess as to what you think the
outcome will be.
d) Review of Literature/Background
Research: Here you describe the work and
findings of others related to your topic from
your research. (See attachment)
e) Materials and Methods of Procedure Describe the materials you used and then
provide a step-by-step explanation of how you
conducted the experiment. Include drawings
or photographs to help clarify your
procedures.
f) Results - The outcome of your experiment
and the data collected is shared in graphs,
charts or as a daily log of observations.
g) Conclusion - In this section you will
interpret your findings and results.
Refer back to your purpose and indicate
whether or not your findings support your
hypothesis.
h) Bibliography - List the books, magazines,
pamphlets, or other communications you used
to research your topic.
DISPLAY BOARD/EXHIBIT: This is the
visual presentation of your project. The
board should look interesting (“eyecatching’”), neat and colorful. The board
should be easy to read and appealing to look
at without distracting the viewer/judge from
understanding what you did for your project.
Carefully prepare and affix your titles,
charts, drawings and diagrams. Graphs,
charts, and clear bold lettering highlight the
display. (See attachment)
DISPLAY MUST INCLUDE: Title, Research
question/Purpose, Hypothesis, Materials, Procedures,
Results, Charts/graphs, Conclusion and any other
necessary information important to your presentation.
Your name, grade and teacher should be placed on the
back of the board. *Do not include pictures with faces of
people involved in your experiment*
ORAL PRESENTATION: Practice and
prepare. Be able to tell what you did in your
experiment.
FINAL ORDER OF RESEARCH PAPER:
Title page
Table of Contents
Abstract (optional)
Research Question/Purpose
Background Research/Review of Literature
Hypothesis
Materials
Procedures
Results
Conclusion
Bibliography