Researching Your Topic

The Project Binder Use a three-ring binder for your science project. The binder will be a part of your project display. The binder is divided into sections. 1. Section Subject 2. Topic Description… “Why I Chose this Topic” 3. Research 4. Hypothesis 5. Materials 6. Procedure (include protocol forms as needed) 7. Data (from project journal) 8. Analysis 9. Abstract 10. References

Conducting Research Conduct research on your topic. You might find out what you expect to happen during your experiment. School data bases and the internet usually have the most current information. When doing online searches, be as specific as possible. For our example experiment you could conduct searches like “Effects of water on plant growth” “Experiments on the effects of water on plant growth” These searches should provide scientific articles and models of experiments. Avoid websites that end in”.org” and “.com” and use sites with “.edu” or “.gov”. Use websites from research institutions, schools and the government for more reliable information that is free from commercial interests.

Writing an Annotated Bibliography Annotated Bibliographies A simple format for exploring topics as you become “an expert” Minimal writing - just three paragraphs First two paragraphs summarize the research article Final paragraph comments on relevance of article to your project Steps to Writing an Annotated Bibliography 1. Find an article about your topic and read it carefully. 2. Record article name, author and website link for reference section. 3. Write a two-paragraph summary using your own words. 4. Write a concluding paragraph: Comment whether you found the article informative and relevant to your experiment. Use at least three annotated bibliographies for your research section

References / Bibliography Cite all sources you used (books, journal articles, websites). Ask your science teacher/mentor about the format to use. Record the following for each source - Name of article - Source (name of book, journal or website) - Date of article - Author (if available) - Publisher / Sponsor (if available)

Writing an Abstract An abstract is a brief summary of your experiment. It is part of your Project Binder and Display Board. It is a maximum of 250 words. Visit this link for Intel ISEF Rules on Abstracts.Visit this link for Intel ISEF Rules on Abstracts Abstracts summarize: 1. Purpose 2. Procedure 3. Data 4. Conclusions 5. Possible Research Applications (optional) Avoid technical terms, abbreviations or acronyms. Do not include tables, graphs or bibliographies. Your abstract advertises your project. It lets the reader quickly know what you have done. Write an exciting abstract if you want judges and the public to be excited about your project!