So You Have to Do a Science Fair Project

1. So You Have to Do a Science Fair Project.

Begin with a Question.

Get out Your Logbook.

Who Cares?

2. Where Do You Begin?: Project Ideas.

Biological Projects.

Physical Projects.

Environmental Projects.

3. Gathering Information: Think of It as a Treasure Hunt.

What Do You Already Know and What Do You Need to Find Out?

Where Should You Look for Information?

Think of Key Words.

Using the Internet.

Ask an Expert.

Organizing Your Information.

Write Down the Source of Each Piece of Information.

4. Guess What? The Hypothesis.

The Null Hypothesis.

Prove It or Not.

5. Test Your Guess: Experimentation.

A Recipe for Success: The Procedure.

Controls and Variables.

Safety.

Materials.

Just Do It!

What If You Encounter Trouble?

6. Write It Down: Recording Your Observations.

Tables.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.

7. Get It All Together: Organizing Your Data.

Showing Qualitative Results.

Showing Quantitative Results.

What Is an Average?

Bar Graphs.

Line Graphs.

Pie Charts.

8. Pick up the Pieces: The Research Paper.

Title, Hypothesis, and Purpose.

Background.

Materials List and Procedure.

Results.

Conclusions.

The Bibliography.

Finishing Touches.

How Long Should the Paper Be?

The Abstract.

9. Show It Off: The Backboard.

The Display.

What Is a Backboard?

Cardboard Backboards.

Building Your Own Backboard.

Backboard Blues.

All That Space.

Putting It All Together.

Mounting Mats and Papers.

What Goes Where.

Titles.

Get Creative!

10. Make It Perfect: Finishing Touches.

Table and Cloth.

Photographs.

Drawings.

Your Research Paper.

Reprints File.

Resource Books.

Your Logbook.

Computers.

Models.

Effective Displays.

11. Give It Your All: The Science Fair.

Dress to Impress.

Know What to Say.

All Done?

What If the Judge Asks Me Something I Don't Know?

What Do Judges Want to See?

12. You're a Winner!

What's Next?

Beyond Your Local Science Fair.

Glossary.

Index.