1. Writing an Abstract for SCIENCE FAIR

2. What is an abstract?
Your abstract should be a short overview (about 250 words) of your project that summarizes all of the project’s major points.

3. In scientific journals
Abstracts
In scientific journals
Introduce journal articles
Inform readers of the article’s content
Help readers decide whether or not to read the article

4. Your Abstract For Science Fair Introduces what your project is about
Informs readers of the project’s results
Helps readers/viewers decide how much time they want to spend reading your project

5. Why should you know how to write abstracts?

6. Writing abstracts helps you condense information from your research
Purdue Online Writing Lab

7. What should you include in your abstract?

8. Introduction/Purpose
This is where you explain why the reader should care about the work you did. For example, could your project’s findings change the way they go about daily life? Is what you’ve done better than what’s already out there?

9. Hypothesis
Identify the hypothesis you tested or problem you solved.

10. Experimentation Procedures Results
What was your approach to solving the problem? Only describe materials if they were absolutely critical to your success. Do try to explain the most important variables if you have room.
Results
What answer did you obtain? Be specific and give numerical data where possible. Avoid vague phrases like “most” or “some.”

11. Conclusion
State what your project or invention contributes to the area you worked in/studied. Did your data support your hypothesis?

12. Things to AVOID JARGON (technical terms most readers won’t understand)
ABBREVIATIONS and ACRONYMS (unless you explain what they mean)
WORKS CITED
TABLES/GRAPHS (these will be included in your logbook)

13. Why abstracts are important
At least ten times as many people will read your abstract as any other part of your work. It's like an advertisement for what you've done.
Since an abstract is so short, each section is usually only one or two sentences long. Consequently, every word is important to conveying your message. But, even with the abstract's brief length, don't be afraid to reinforce a key point by stating it in more than one way or referring to it in more than one section.

14. How to meet the word limit
Most authors agree that it is harder to write a short description of something than a long one. Here's a tip: for your first draft, don't be overly concerned about the length. Just make sure you include all the key information.
Then take your draft and start crossing out words, phrases, and sentences that are less important than others. Look for places where you can combine sentences in ways that shorten the total length.
Put it aside for a while, then come back and re-read your draft. With a fresh eye, you'll probably find new places to cut. Before you know it you will have a tightly written abstract.

15. Sample abstract #1
Advertisers are always touting more powerful and longer lasting batteries, but which batteries really do last longer, and is battery life impacted by the speed of the current drain? This project looks at which AA battery maintains its voltage for the longest period of time in low, medium, and high current drain devices. The batteries were tested in multiple devices by measuring the battery voltage (dependent variable) at different time intervals (independent variable) for each of the battery types in each of the devices. The hypothesis was that Energizer would last the longest in all of the devices tested. The experimental results supported the hypothesis by showing that the Energizer performs with increasing superiority, the higher the current drain of the device. The experiment also showed that the heavy-duty non-alkaline batteries do not maintain their voltage as long as either alkaline battery at any level of current drain.

16. Sample abstract #2
The purpose of this study was to determine if children between the ages of nine and twelve with dyslexia are able to read and understand with more accuracy passages presented when the positive and negative space is reversed (black background with white letters). It was hypothesized that the reading accuracy and comprehension of the dyslexic students would be improved with this reversal of positive and negative space. A test was created consisting of four paragraphs (two presented normally and two reversed) and two reading comprehension questions per passage. A total of 37 dyslexic students and 34 non-dyslexic students were tested. The students were given 90 seconds to read each passage, the reading comprehension questions were given and answered orally.It was found that the dyslexic students made less errors when reading the passages presented on the black background. The reading comprehension of the dyslexic students was slightly improved by the reversal of positive and negative space. The reversal of the positive and negative space had no effect on the non-dyslexic students reading accuracy or comprehension.

17. Sample abstract #3
The objective was to determine if the average American has ampicillin- and tetracycline-resistant strains of E. coli in their alimentary tract.nformed consent was obtained from 100 randomly selected people, 50 men and 50 women ranging in age from 10 to 92 years. An isolate of E. coli was obtained from the stool of each subject and grown in the presence of tetracycline and ampicillin. The area of inhibition was measured and compared to that of a non-resistant strain of E. coli. Thirty percent of the men and 24% of the women were found to have ampicillin-resistant E. coli. The majority of the sample population was found to be under the age of 50. Slightly more people age 50 and over were found to be resistant than those under 50. Penicillin and its derivatives such as ampicillin, were the first commercially available antibiotics. Tetracycline was introduced later. The length of exposure to the antibiotics is reflected in the greater percentage of subjects with ampicillin-resistant E. coli (24% to 30%), compared to those with tetracycline-resistant organisms (12%). In addition, subjects age 50 and over who would have a longer life-time exposure to both antibiotics were more likely to harbor antibiotic resistant E. coli. These data suggest that antibiotics should be carefully dispensed and monitored by health care professionals.