Students are divided into two categories — roughly 50% love science fair projects, another 50% hate them and try to do anything not to take part in them (though we all know it’s hardly possible!). It doesn’t matter which category you would choose, we are here to provide you with a set of tips on writing science fair projects. We are sure some of these tips you are already aware of, but some of them will definitely be new for you. Participating in science fairs is an important part of the educational process, and you should not neglect it. Of course, if the deadline is scarily close and you, for example, need to finish science fair project abstract or report on time, you should consider receiving some professional writing assistance. However, we do hope these tips will help you out.
Choose not the Easiest but the Most Engaging One
Discuss the variety of topics and ideas with your professor. It is better if you come with your suggestions because otherwise, your professor might assign you with something you will suffer from. Professors appreciate the initiative, so be active even if you are not interested in writing the abstract and actually doing this project. Write down all the hints your professor gives as they will help you deal with the process and get the highest grade. To choose the topic which won’t bore you to death do as follows:
- Brainstorm. Write down all the ideas you have including absolutely “insane” ones.
- Draw “association trees.”
- Don’t choose an excessively challenging project. It might sound fun from the very beginning, but in general, it will be nothing but a loss of time and efforts.
Don’t Forget about Timing
Don’t spend more than 1 week on research. When speaking about college science fair projects it is more than enough if you follow a tight schedule. Do whatever it takes to finish research within this period of time and confirm the results with your professor. It is wise to receive feedback as often as possible, this way your professor will feel partly responsible for the result. Choose the experiment according to the amount of time you have left. Some, frankly speaking, an average but finished experiment is better than simply the best one but not finished to the due date. Timing is everything, so try your best to be precise.
Make Sure to Identify Variables
This is where most of the students get stuck. Identifying variables is essential for the experiment. There are lots of articles describing the variables, which you should consult before making an experiment plan, and we will share just some tips on defining and dealing with them. First of all, you can have only one independent variable. It describes the condition you plan to change. The dependent variable is called this way because it depends on the changes you imply towards the independent variable. During your experiment, your task is actually to observe the dependent variable closely and analyze its changes. There are also the controlled variables. They stay stable during the entire experiment, and you control them.
Make Your Hypothesis Sound Professional
You need to present your professor (or a committee) with a testable statement the validity of which you will prove (or not) during the experiment. The whole idea of the science project is to prove this hypothesis or to prove it is not valid. The hypothesis should not have a clear answer from a very beginning, should not be rhetorical and should be possible to test.
Design and Plan!
Design your experiment according to the preliminary plan. It is better if you make some suggestions for each stage and those suggestions cover your expectations on the development of the experiment. Remember, that when writing a report or describing a process of the experiment you should avoid any “I” statements. Make sure to give detailed descriptions, so when reading your report, your professor will fully reconstruct your every step in his or her mind.
Don’t be shy to add this page to bookmarks and use it every time you need to deal with a science fair project. What is essential, you should never use free samples uploaded online, because most of them are severely plagiarized and cannot be trusted in terms of quality.
