What Makes a Good Science Project? (continued)

Put Some Time (and Fun) In!

How much time and energy have you put into your project? Was it a one-hour wonder or did you actually put in some effort and time? Did you fly by the seat of your pants or did you spend time reading and learning the subject? Either way, it will show. Pick a topic you like. Science is found everywhere. There must be something you enjoy that can be used as part of a science project. Think outside the box and have some fun with your project!

A judge considers time and effort as two important factors in a successful project. Judges can usually tell that the amount of effort that goes into your project reflects your motivation. Because if you're not motivated, you won't enjoy the experience and that shows!

Clear as Glass!

If nobody understands what you were doing with your project, why bother with all that work? Be crystal-clear in both your written and verbal communication skills. Your ideas should be clearly presented and easy to understand. Judges look for well-written abstracts with easy to follow visual aids and clear and concise answers. Remember, the more you understand about the scientific principles, the easier it is for you to explain it in terms everyone understands. KISS (Keep It Simple, Scientist!)

Wrap-Up

To sum this up, remember high marks go to:

• Clever experimental apparatus
• Correctly interpreting data
• Discovering knowledge not readily available to you
• Combining good research and experimentation
• Repeating steps to verify experimental results
• Predicting and/or reducing experimental results with analytical techniques
• Experiments that have a real world application
• Your ability to clearly portray and explain your project and its results
• Genuine scientific breakthroughs

Questions

Judges will ask lots of questions about your project. Dazzle them with your brilliance and be prepared to answer questions like these:

• How did you come up with the idea for this project?
• What did you learn from your background search?
• How long did it take you to build the apparatus?
• How did you build the apparatus? How does it work?
• How much time (or many days) did it take to run the experiments (grow the plants or collect each data point)?
• How many times did you run the experiment with a different set of parameters?
• Did you try something else that didn't work?
• Can you explain to me how your project relates to (some scientific principle)?
• Do you think there is an application in industry for this knowledge (technique)?
• Were there any books that helped you do your analysis?
• When did you start this project? Or how much of the work did you do this year?
• What is the next experiment to do if you want to continue this study?