Science Fair Guide
Science Fair Guide
Science Fair
Success
Contents
Getting Started 3
Choosing a Question 5
As you design a presentation and interact with judges, you’ll grow in confidence
and public speaking ability. In fact, science is just one of many subjects used
in designing a science fair project—you also learn research, writing, grammar,
planning and organizing, math, logic, and more.
Science fairs are a wonderful way to get excited about learning, but they require a
lot of hard work. If you want the benefits of participating in a science fair, but don’t
know where to start, this guide is for you. It will provide a brief overview of the
most important aspects of a science fair project and get you well on your way to
having a display at your local fair.
Though the information is most applicable for middle school students, it can be
adapted for use with elementary students and can be a great resource for first-
time high school participants.
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The Scientific Method
The scientific method provides the essential process of scientific discovery for any
grade or experience level. Once learned, the scientific method becomes your constant
companion for basic experiments and science fair projects. It’s an indispensable tool for
building science skills and reaching sound scientific conclusions. The scientific method
begins with a question… “I wonder…?” and can end with amazement and awe.
Follow the steps of the scientific method in order. Taken together, they provide a solid
foundation for science exploration and discovery.
Step 4: Come to a conclusion. Decide whether your hypothesis was right or wrong.
What were the results of your experiment? Can you tell why it happened that way?
Explain and communicate your results.
These principles can be used to study the world around us. You can study anything
from plants and rocks to biology or chemical reactions using these four steps. Even
young students benefit from learning how to use the scientific method.
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Choosing a Question
A science fair project can’t get much better than its original question. Though the
temptation to get right to experimenting is strong, it is better to spend significant time
developing your topic first. Starting with a solid foundation—an interesting, specific,
and testable question—will make building your project much easier.
Criteria
Try to focus on inquiry-type topics instead of demonstration-type topics. In other words,
judges want to see students design an experiment to answer a question they have.
They do not want to see a mere demonstration of a principle that is already common
knowledge.
Safe. As with any science project, you must choose a topic you can safely
investigate with the equipment you have. Be aware of the safety regulations at
your science fair.
Interesting! You must be interested in your topic, or you will have a hard
time finding motivation to work on it. Ask a question that you really want to
answer, and you will enjoy the investigation process and put together a good
presentation.
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Brainstorming
Finding a topic that meets all of these criteria is not always easy! The best place to start
is with your interests. Do you like animals? Electricity? Astronomy? Have you seen
things in your backyard or in your house that have caused you to wonder? Have you
done a science experiment in school that you really liked? Maybe you could design a
similar experiment to discover something new about the topic.
You can also look for ideas in science magazines, science news websites, or guides like
this one. Many books about science fairs will have lists of key words and categories that
will help you start thinking in the right direction. Some books even have project ideas,
but if you find one you like, try to “make it your own” by looking at the topic from a
different angle or testing for another variable. When something excites your interest,
write it down. It is a good idea to start keeping a science fair ideas notebook several
months in advance.
Research
Once you have found a topic that interests you, begin your research. Younger students
can look in books, magazines, and on the internet (you are more likely to get accurate
information from university or government websites). Older students can gain access
to a local university or college library to find scientific journals. It is also a good idea to
write letters to government departments or people with expertise in the area you’re
studying. (A personal interview is even better, if you have the opportunity.) They can
often give you important information or at least point you in the right direction.
You may also consider finding a mentor in the appropriate field who will advise you
throughout your investigation. Some science fairs have
mentor programs to match you up with a scientist
who knows your topic. (You will have to submit
an application for this program.)
Wherever you get information, be sure
to write down the source in a project
notebook. When you write your science
report you will need to give credit to your
sources, and you don’t want to take the
time to find them all again!
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Restrictions CHECK RESTRICTIONS FOR
Each science fair has a set of guidelines
that include restrictions on certain topics. Human subjects
Variables INDEPENDENT:
Whenever you test a hypothesis, you should identify all the Hours of sunlight
factors—variables—that could have an effect on your results.
DEPENDENT:
Only test the effect of one factor at a time; all the other vari- Growth of bean plant
ables must be kept constant. There are three categories of
variables: CONTROLLED:
Water, soil, seeds,
Independent. An independent variable is your planting depth, etc.
changing variable. You control the change. In our
plant example, you control how many hours of
sunlight each plant gets.
Controlled. These are the variables you keep constant, so they cannot affect your
result. For example, give each plant exactly the same amount of water and plant
the seeds at the same depth in the same type of soil.
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Protocols
Your goal as you design your experiment is to come up with
a procedure that someone else could repeat and get
the same results you do. To make sure your procedure
is repeatable, you need to come up with a list of
guidelines for conducting the experiment; these are
called protocols. There are two categories of protocols:
one contains rules for following the procedure under
normal conditions; the other contains rules for what
to do in unusual circumstances. For our bean plant
example, the first set of rules may tell you how much
water to give the plants, how deep to plant the seed, etc.
The second set of rules would outline what to do if one of
the plants is tipped over (e.g., make sure it is refilled with soil
up to the same level as before).
Multiple tests
If you perform your experiment only once, or if you use only one test subject (e.g., one
bean plant), you might get some faulty results. Even if your result seems to confirm your
hypothesis, you can’t be sure some other variable didn’t have a hand in the outcome.
(What if the growth of your bean plant was stunted by a parasite attack on the roots
instead of by lack of sunlight, for example?) Scientists test their hypotheses over and
over again, and for your science fair project you should too! The more you test, the more
accurate your results will be. If you get the same results each time, that will go a long
way to confirming your hypothesis. Make sure you follow the exact same procedure
each time you do a test.
Records
Take careful notes of your procedures and all your observations and measurements. You
may also want to make sketches or take pictures at various stages of your experiment.
You can use these notes for you presentation at the fair, so be neat and organized!
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Aalyzing Data &
Forming a Conclusion
After you have finished your experiment and gathered all your data, you’re ready to
formulate your analysis and conclusion. There are three important parts to your analysis
(younger students may only need to include a conclusion):
Conclusion. Did your results support your hypothesis? How? (Be specific!) If
your results did not support your hypothesis, this doesn’t mean you failed! In
fact, it gives you valuable information and can lead you to ideas for further
experimentation. Make sure that you describe how your results contradicted
your hypothesis.
Error Analysis. There are often variables beyond your control that might have
affected your results. It is important to identify these variables in your analysis
so that someone looking at your data will know the possibility of inaccuracy. For
example, you should note if your uncovered plants got less light energy because
half the days were very cloudy.
After you have written your analysis, you may also want to include some ideas for taking
your investigation further. Some students work on the same topic for several years,
continually building on their findings from the year before. Even if you don’t intend to
continue your project, you can impress the judges by thinking about the direction it
could go.
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Presenting your Project
Last, but not least, you need to get your project ready for presentation at the fair.
Judges have a lot of projects to look at, and their time is limited, so your display should
be well-organized and easy-to-follow. You may have a fantastic experiment and come
up with amazing results, but if you present it poorly, a judge may not take enough time
to see the quality of your investigative work. Do your project justice by taking time to
present it well! There are several important components to your presentation:
Abstract
It may seem like no big deal to write a 250-word
summary of your project, but your abstract
may be the key to your success at a fair. Many
judges read abstracts ahead of time to get
an idea of the different projects, so their first
impression of your work will most likely be
based on your abstract. An abstract should
be no more than 250 words and should
include a brief synopsis of the following:
Purpose of experiment
Procedures used
Observations/Data/Results
Conclusions
The abstract should be written in sentence style, not list style, so you may alternate
back and forth between the four categories above, especially if your project has several
levels of investigation. To see a sample upper-level abstract, visit the ISEF website.
Spend time working on your abstract—make it capture the judges’ attention and
convince them that you have done some serious work.
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Science Report
Reports are not always required for younger grades, but for 6th grade and up you will
usually have to write one. The report is a detailed explanation of your entire project—
background information (with proper citation of sources), purpose, procedures, data,
conclusions, etc. Don’t be overwhelmed! If you took good notes during your researching
and experimenting stages, you have all you need to write a great report. You can also
include your graphs and pictures in the report to support your text. Display your report
in a three-ring binder on your table at the fair.
Science Notebook
This is another three-ring binder containing your data records and other notes you took
as you investigated your topic. Display this along with your science report.
Display Board
Check the fair guidelines before beginning work on your display board: some fairs
require boards of a certain size. Make your board attractive, but not distracting.
Organize the information more or less sequentially, so your audience can follow the
train of your project easily. Include your project title, original question and hypothesis,
abstract, summary, procedure, experiment, data, and conclusion. You can include
background research in your summary, and graphs, illustrations, and photographs in
your experiment section. Here is an example:
Project Title
Abstract Data/Results
Question & Hypothesis
Summary
Conclusion
Procedure Experiment
Notebook Report
Display Items
If you want to display objects from your experiment on your table at the fair, carefully
check the guidelines to see if what you have is acceptable. ISEF fairs don’t allow the
display of any live materials (e.g., plants).
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Oral Presentation
Many fairs require you to give an oral presentation of your project to the judges
(especially in the upper levels) during a judging interview. Do not memorize a speech,
but practice explaining your project to other people so you feel comfortable with the
material. Prepare your explanation to last from 2-5 minutes, but be able to touch on
every aspect of your project in more detail— sometimes your interview could last up
to 15 minutes. Also prepare yourself for questions from the judges. For example, they
might ask you what you found that you didn’t expect, what your next step would be if
you decided to continue the project, or why you think your research is important.
Judging Criteria
As you organize your display and prepare for your oral presentations, consult the
judging criteria for your particular fair. Emphasize how you meet each category of
criteria in your display and your speech. According to the ISEF Student Handbook,
judges generally base their evaluations on the following points:
Creative ability
WHEN YOU TALK
Scientific thought TO THE JUDGES:
and engineering goals
Smile
Thoroughness Be enthusiastic
Speak clearly
Skill
Know your material
Clarity Be specific
Dress nicely
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Science Fair Project Ideas
Start brainstorming for your science fair project right now! The following pages contain
sample questions, keywords, and project ideas organized by age level and category. If
you need other ideas, check the Science Projects page on our website, where projects
and project ideas are added frequently.
Lots of factors affect plant growth. Try experimenting with soil type, light,
temperature, water, and more.
A person’s five senses are sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. Compare
sensitivity to touch in different parts of the body. Can you distinguish between
an apple and a peach using your toes, knees, elbows, or belly? What about the
difference between a sweater, sweatshirt, and t-shirt?
Have you ever watched ants carrying bits of food? What food from your kitchen
do you think an ant or other insect would like best? What “bait” will probably
attract the greatest number of different insect species?
Do a project to find out if temperature affects the butterfly life cycle. Make sure
there is a 2-3 degree temperature difference between the caterpillars placed in a
warm area versus those placed in a cooler area. For smaller creatures, you could
hatch some brine shrimp. Is tap water or distilled water better for hatching the
eggs?
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If you like collecting insects, perhaps you could design an experiment dealing
with collecting techniques. What is the best method for softening butterfly
wings so they can be mounted?
How good is soil at breaking things down? What can you find that is
biodegradable? How can you test to see whether something is or not?
What holds more water, sand or soil? How does this affect what kinds of plants
can grow in each?
Can you learn to predict the weather from the clouds? Try using a cloud chart to
make your own forecast every day for a few weeks. How accurate was the cloud-
forecast method?
What type of flooring creates the most or the least friction? Try carpet, wood,
tile, linoleum, etc. Younger kids might test this by rolling a ball or toy truck over
different surfaces.
Why does a balloon stick to the wall after you rub it against your hair?
Experiment with static electricity to find out how positive and negative charges
in household items interact. What causes static electricity to increase? What are
some ways to decrease static electricity and which methods work best?
The sun gives off energy that can be used like a battery to power things. Connect
a motor to a solar cell and figure out what conditions it runs best under. Do
different types of light (such as fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, or LED light)
power a solar cell better than others? What happens on a cloudy day? Older kids
can research to find out what else solar energy can be used for.
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What makes a rainbow after a storm? Use a spectroscope to compare the spectra
of different types of light. Do different light sources contain different colors of
light?
Experiment with the density of different liquids. Which is denser, oil, corn syrup,
or water? If you add all three to the same glass, which liquid will float on top of
the others? Compare how well some objects (e.g., raisin, paper clip) float in each
of the three substances. You can also experiment with colored water (e.g., red
for hot, blue for cold) to find out whether different temperatures affect water
density.
Chemistry Ideas
Design a science fair project comparing and contrasting how long it takes ice to
melt at room temperature compared to a warm stovetop or the refrigerator.
Your kitchen offers lots of chemistry ideas. How does cola or another soft drink
compare in acidity with other common drinks or food? You can test acidity
using pH paper. You can also test which fruits have the most vitamin C using
indophenol.
Make crystals from sugar, salt, and baking soda. How do their crystal shapes
compare? Does the rate of evaporation of the crystal growing medium (water,
vinegar) affect the size of the crystals? Does the rate of how fast the crystals cool
down affect the size of the crystals? Do impurities (such as iodized salt versus
salt that is not iodized) affect the growth of the crystals?
Chemical energy can produce power! Try making a battery from food items.
Which type of citrus fruit works best? What about vinegar?
Experiment with polymers by using milk proteins to make homemade glue. How
does homemade glue compare with commercial glue?
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For Middle School
The middle school years are important years to get excited about science. Now
is a great time to start doing in-depth thinking on your own as you develop your
problem-solving skills. Many of the ideas listed in the elementary school section
can be converted into more complex middle school projects. All projects should use
experimentation to answer a testable question.
Experiment with how the pH of soil affects plant growth. Develop an experiment
that tests the importance of CO2 to plant health.
Use a microscope to study protozoa (find them in a local pond, or hatch them
yourself). How do heat, light, water pH, and the use of quieting substances
like methyl cellulose affect them? You could also do a pond water study to
determine the various effects of pollutants on pond life.
Experiment with the use of antibiotics and common household cleaners to fight
bacteria growth.
Find out how temperature, wind, or humidity affects the rate of evaporation.
Sink holes are formed when the rock below the soil is dissolved by ground water.
What kind of rock would present the most risk of a sink hole?
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Physical Science Ideas
Use a spectroscope to analyze the light spectra produced by burning different
elements. Do you expect compounds that contain some of the same elements
to have similar spectra?
Build your own light bulb, and then experiment with what materials make the
longest-lasting or brightest filament.
Experiment with the most effective materials and design for propellers or model
airplanes.
What kind of substance (metal, ceramic) conducts heat the best? Do a thermal
conductivity study to discover which substance works best for a pot handle and
which works best for a teapot.
Find out how increased mass affects velocity and acceleration by doing a project
with dynamic carts. You can also experiment with the resulting velocities after a
collision between a moving object and unmoving one, or between two objects
moving in opposite directions.
Chemistry Ideas
Try distilling drinkable water from salt water using
the sun. What materials can you use to speed up
the rate of evaporation?
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Use a semi-permeable membrane to experiment with osmosis. What kinds of
substances pass through the membrane, and what substances don’t? What
is a common property that prevents substances from passing through the
membrane?
Which retains heat longer, salt water or fresh water? Design an experiment to
find out.
Find out the differences in properties and effects of organic vs. chemical fertilizers
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Earth Science Ideas
Explore methods of erosion prevention, test effects of soil composition on erosion
Test the concentration and effect of minerals in soil and water samples
Determine chemical makeup of rain in your area; test possible hazardous effects
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Chemistry Ideas
Experiment with types, effectiveness, and the
impact on nutritional value of preservatives in
food.
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Additional Resources
9 For additional project ideas, try sciencebuddies.org. They have a good selection of
detailed projects for junior high and high school.
9 We’ve partnered with Science Buddies to bring you unique kits for some of
their top project ideas, browse the selection here.
9 For more great kits to make your Science Fair project a success, view our full
selection here.
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