SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS: THINGS A JUDGE CONSIDERS Dorothy Tepper Workshop #4 11/5/14

Poster Sessions at Scientific Conferences Some scientists prefer poster sessions over speaking to a large audience in a formal session Often limited time and space are available for poster sessions so getting accepted is competitive

Poster Sessions, cont’d. Provides informal opportunity to share and discuss work with colleagues Can exchange ideas freely Time available to discuss things at length

Title of Project Can I fairly quickly figure out what the project is about by looking at the title? Title should be descriptive but not overwhelming and full of technical jargon

Abstracts Very important part of poster is viewer interested or not? 200-word contest to get people to look at your poster Should be carefully written Write it as if the rest of the poster isn’t there (it should stand alone) Precise, scientifically sound

Abstracts, cont’d. Put the “news” at the beginning: Problem Hypothesis Summarize methods used – what you did to test hypothesis Focus rest of abstract on results and conclusions

Characteristics of a Good Poster Good science clearly presented Uncluttered Colorful design Brief and legible text

Good Posters, cont’d. Keep it as simple as possible Present only enough data to support conclusions Leave out unnecessary details Well organized, flows well

TITLE (with flow shown by numbers) 1. 3 4 5 2. 6

TITLE (with flow shown by arrows)

Scientific Method

3-Minute “Elevator Speech” Students should practice this speech to the point that they are comfortable giving it. During this speech, students should basically guide the judge through their poster, emphasizing the important points.

3-Minute Elevator Speech, cont’d. The student should show good understanding of the scientific method and scientific principles involved with their project. The end result should be that the judge has a good overall understanding of what the project is about.

Students Should Try to Anticipate Questions the Judges Might Ask Why did you choose this topic? What was your hypothesis? How did you do your background research and what were your main sources of information?

Judges’ Questions, cont’d. If you could do your project over again, what would you do differently? How did you test the statistical significance of your results? How many times was the experiment repeated?

Judges’ Questions, cont’d. Did you have a large enough data set on which to base your conclusions? What variable(s) did you keep constant and what variable did you change? If you had a mentor, how did your mentor assist you? How much did your parents help you with this project?

Judges’ Questions, cont’d. What was the cost of the materials you used? How did your results relate to your hypothesis? What are the limitations of your project? What’s the most important thing you learned from your project?

Tips for Students Be enthusiastic about your project Look at the science fair as an opportunity to present your project to professional scientists and professors and to get feedback from them Dress neatly and make a good first impression Don’t chew gum! Turn your cell phone off!

Examples of Judging Forms (Rubrics) Frisco ISD Middle School Science Fair, 2013-2014 Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, 2014