Have a question? Ask an IPL Librarian!

(Use our Contact Us form for questions/suggestions about our site.)

Science Fair Project Resource Guide

• 1. Getting Started
• 2. Choosing a Topic
• 3. Completing the Project
• 4. Displaying Your Project

4. Displaying Your Project

Scientists have to publish their work, and so do you! Despite all the hard work you’ve done, your project isn’t finished until people see your results. This MAY include…

• Graphs
• A Written Report
• Preparing a Display
• An Oral Report

Whatever method your teacher or science fair has chosen, you should find some helpful advice in the following sites.

Graphs

If your project involves counting or measuring anything — and science usually does — then your results will have a lot of numbers. No matter what kind of numbers you have, it’s easier to make sense of them if you use graphs to present your data.

Create a Graph
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/default.aspx
If you don’t have access to a spreadsheet program, don’t worry! At this site, you can enter your data, choose a graph type, and print it out.

Handling Data - Representing Data
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/maths/handling_data/rep_data_1_intro.shtml
Learn how to show data with charts and graphs. (From the Children's BBC Bitesize page for KS3.)

Interactivate: Pie Chart
http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/piechart/
Get practice at creating and changing a pie chart and other charts. (From the Computational Science Education Reference Desk (CSERD), a Pathways project of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).)

Using Data and Statistics
http://www.mathleague.com/help/data/data.htm
Learn about charts and graphs. (From the Math League Press.)

Writing a Report

Chemistry.About.com: Writing a Science Project Report
http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa121002d.htm
Tell yous what your report needs — a title, purpose, hypothesis, results, and conclusion — and how to do it.

Dr. Shawn's Secrets to Writing a Winning Science Fair Project Report
http://www.scifair.org/howtowriteakillerreport.html
Dr. Shawn claims, " Your science fair project report is the single most important part of your experiment. A well-written report can make a pathetic project look pretty good, and a good project look exceptional." Learn how to write an exceptional report for your project

Georgia Science & Engineering Fair: How to Write a Research Paper
http://www.uga.edu/oasp/gsef/guide.html#rpaper
All the things a good research paper should include.

Science Service: Writing Your Abstract
http://www.sciserv.org/isef/students/abstract.asp
Your project may need an abstract: a short, written description of what you project is all about. Here is a color-coded example which shows you the parts of an abstract and how to pack a lot of information into a small space.

ScI-Journal | Hints and tips - referencing
http://www.sci-journal.org/index.php?link=help/referencing.php&template_type=tips
"Here's how to make use of other people's work and not get accused of cheating."

USDA Agriculture in the Classroom
http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/science_biblio.htm
When you write up the report on your project, you’ll need to list the sources you read when you researched your topic (the bibliography). This site will tell you how to do this right.

Preparing a Display

Connecticut Science Fair
http://www.ctsciencefair.org/student_guide/display_help.html
Find out what you should put on your poster display – and what doesn’t belong. Be sure to click on "Helpful Articles" to find out what "Judging Pet Peeves" you should avoid.

The Display - Janice VanCleave's Science Fair Handbook at Discoveryschool.com
http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/handbook/display.html
"Your science fair display represents all the work that you have done." Visit this site to get helpful hints and some useful do's and don'ts.

Make a Science Fair Poster or Display
http://chemistry.about.com/od/sciencefairprojects/a/scienceposter.htm
Learn how to make a backboard display and how to be prepared for the day you display it at the fair.

Scifair.org: Display Boards
http://www.scifair.org/articles/display.shtml
"If you want to capture the judges' attention, your must make your display shout out to the judges," just like this award-winning project did.

Presenting Your Project

Greensburg K-12: Oral Presentation
http://www.greensburg.k12.in.us/teacher/millssteve/oralpres.htm
A very simple and broad overview of what to include in an oral presentation.

Presentation and Evaluation - Janice VanCleave's Science Fair Handbook at Discoveryschool.com
http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/scifairstudio/handbook/presandeval.html
Great hints on what the judges are usually looking for and advice on how to prepare an oral presentation.

The Science Fair Judging Sheet
http://sciencefairproject.virtualave.net/judging_sheet.htm
It always helps to know what the judges want, so check out a sample judging sheet! Even if your judges’ sheets are a little different, they’ll look for some of the same things you’ll see here.

Twin Groves: Oral Presentation
http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/ScienceInternet/OralPresentation.html
Good, simple advice on what you should say about your project, how to prepare your oral presentation, and how to perform well in front of the judges.