Name: ___________________________________________ Date: _______________________
Science Fair Project Research Paper Template
(Rough Draft)
Use this template to make a rough draft of your final research paper. Fill in the blanks to organize your
thoughts before going to the computer lab. Read the directions and questions for each section to
determine what to write in each area. Do not include any of the directions or words inside the
parenthesis in your final paper. This template is a rough draft of your final paper.
Rationale
(What is the rationale for your project? Include a brief synopsis of the background that supports your
research problem and explain why this research is important scientifically and if applicable, explain any
societal impact of your research.)
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Research Question
(What are you researching for your project? What is interesting about this question? Hook your readers
with an interesting fact that might make them curious about this topic. Give the reader an idea about
the possible outcome of your experiment.)
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Hypothesis
(State the hypothesis for your project based on your research.)
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Research
Use the information from your research to type five paragraphs. A paragraph should have five to
seven sentences. Type one paragraph from each resource. Use the format to help you make each
paragraph. Do not include any words in parenthesis in your final paper.
Use the template examples to write your paragraphs or make your own paragraphs. Each paragraph
should have a topic sentence and a conclusion sentence. The body of the paragraph should include the
facts you found during research to support your findings.
(Paragraph 1):
(Write a topic sentence. Use the example to help.)
According to (author/source) ______________________________________ (date) ___________________,
the main idea about _________________ is ____________________________________________________
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(Use the facts from this source that support the topic to make the rest of the paragraph.)
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(Make a concluding sentence. Use the example to help.)
In conclusion, (author/source) __________________________________________________________ says
_________________________________________________________________________ about the topic.
(Paragraph 2):
(Write a topic sentence. Use the example to help.)
Another idea, by (author/source) ______________________________________ (date)
________________ is
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(Use the facts from this source that support the topic to make the rest of the paragraph.)
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(Make a concluding sentence. Use the example to help.)
In conclusion, (author/source) _______________________________says ___________________________
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(Paragraph 3):
(Write a topic sentence. Use the example to help.)
A third writer, (author/source) ______________________________________ (date) __________________
states that ______________________________________________________________________________.
(Use the facts from this source that support the topic to make the rest of the paragraph.)
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(Make a concluding sentence. Use the example to help.)
The third author (source) _____________________________________ concludes that
_________________
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(Paragraph 4):
(Write a topic sentence. Use the example to help.)
A fourth source, (author/source) ______________________________ (date) ________________, states
that ____________________________________________________________________________________.
(Use the facts from this source that support the topic to make the rest of the paragraph.)
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(Make a concluding sentence. Use the example to help.)
This author, (author/source) _____________________________________ concludes that ______________
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(Paragraph 5):
(Write a topic sentence. Use the example to help.)
Yet another idea, from (author/source) _______________________________ (date) _________________
is
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(Use the facts from this source that support the topic to make the rest of the paragraph.)
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This author (author/source) _________________________________ concludes that
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Experiment
How will you test the idea you think makes the most sense? Explain how you will do your experiment
and the materials you will use during the experimentation process. Include safety precautions you will
use during the experiment. Describe the procedure you will use to collect and analyze the data or
results of the experiment.
In order to test (what are you testing)
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I will ____________________________________________________________________________________
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The materials needed for the experiment are
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The experiment will require _______________________________________________________________
to ensure safety precautions are met. I will collect the data for my experiment by
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After collecting the data, I will analyze my results by
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The evaluation of the data will be shown by
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Conclusion
Based on your research what is the expected outcome of your experiment. Give the facts that support
your conclusion from your research. Use scientific explanations and theories to support your expected
outcome.
The expected results, based on research, for this experiment are __________________________________
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References
Author last name, first initial. (date). title of article. date retrieved (if online publication), pages (if print
publication) of the references cited.