TIPS FOR A GREAT SCIENCE PROJECT (1)
Your Project Step by Step
1.CHECK THE GROUND RULES IN THE INTEL GUIDEBOOK (http://www.sciserv.org/isef/rules
Be
sure that you know what safety precautions are required for the use of
chemicals, electricity or bacteria. Some
projects cannot be done at home, but require a laboratory setting. Use of humans
or animals in experiments must have prior approval. Check the deadlines you need
to meet. Make sure that the
experiment will be finished before the stated deadline
Look over all the forms to see what paperwork and what signatures you will need.
To
avoid extra signatures and paperwork for biology projects, you can use plants,
or invertebrate animals, such as ants, worms, caterpillars, water fleas,
protozoans or crayfish. (“Alternatives to the use of nonhuman vertebrate
animals for research MUST BE explored and discussed in the Research Plan
Attachment”. Intel Rulebook p. 17) For microbiology, you can use baker’s
yeast or non-pathogenic bacteria such as E.
coli strain K-12. Use
non-toxic chemicals when possible. If
you want to work at home, choose a project that does not require expert
supervision or a laboratory environment.
Be sure you select something of interest to you. As you begin your science project ask yourself: “Why did I choose this particular topic?” and “What is the value of the project? What scientific or mathematical concept will this help me to understand better?”
A
good idea, if this is not your first science fair project, is to consider a
continuation project. There must be improvements or a new approach with a
new series or experiments.
Search
out expert help at colleges, universities, medical facilities, and local
government facilities for assistance with your project.
A
mentor can help find a good project for you, suggest appropriate reading
material, and make sure your project is appropriate to your grade level. The
mentor can also help you obtain necessary equipment or materials, supervise your
experiments, if necessary, and check your written work.
Once
you decide on a general topic, narrow it down to a realistic budget of time and
supplies that you can work with. Make
a wall calendar for the entire project, with short-term intermediate goals so
you don’t end up doing everything at the last minute. Set a pace.
Science
is not done in a vacuum. You need to read about your topic in order to find out
what has already been done and what results you can expect.
This will help you to plan your own experiments and to make a hypothesis.
It will be important in your presentation to compare your results with
those obtained by other people doing the same or similar experiments.
Try
gathering all the resources at various area libraries.
Do not limit yourself to books alone.
Access the Maryland Digital Library at Allegany College of Maryland and
Frostburg State University. There
is also interlibrary loan service for books and magazine articles, but it is
best to start as early as possible with these requests. Check websites that are listed on the attached paper. Talk
with experts on your subject; most are delighted to help you.
Begin
practicing on how to take proper notes. Learn
how to make a properly organized outline. Don’t
forget to make correct citations that credit the sources you have used.
You will need to write down the names of the authors, the year of
publication, the title of the article, journal or book, the volume, pages, and
publisher. Make sure the
information is the latest available.
Be
sure you ask a question that you can answer.
Make sure that it is a specific question; a question that is too general
is meaningless. Comparisons between
different commercial products should be based on their scientific properties or
mode of action and not simply brand names.
There is a big difference between consumer reports, in which you merely
try to choose the best product for a certain purpose, and scientific studies, in
which you try to find out something about the way a product works.
Especially if this is your first experience, it is better to examine
something about the world about you than to try to solve a complicated problem.
Start early so you have plenty of time.
For
high school projects note that one of the major judging criteria is creativity.
Therefore, try to find a unique approach. How
do you know if it is unique? Read
or ask an expert.
Identify
your variables and controls; know the differences between an experimental group
and a control group. Detail exactly
your procedures step-by-step. This
is all working towards a clearly stated objective.
Make sure you have all the materials you will need throughout the
experiment written down on a checklist.
It
is never too early to begin writing that paper.
Your written research plan serves as a guide to you and is a required
part of your paperwork. It should
be in paragraph form, and state the subject of your experiment, the variable to
be changed, and the variable to be measured.
Detail your method and procedures, including important details of
equipment, chemical compounds, species of organisms, etc.
Look
carefully at the list of categories in the Intel rule book, and consult your
teacher or mentor if necessary. Even
an excellent project cannot win if it is in the wrong category, and the category
cannot be changed once it has been submitted for the regional fair.
If you have any doubt, call the RESA office to help you.
Submit
all forms to your science teacher. Make
sure that all the necessary information is provided. Read the guidelines carefully.
Check spelling, grammar, and proofread carefully.
Keep your own copy of your application; things do get lost!
RESEARCH
PLAN ATTACHMENT: This is the most important part of your application.
The Science Review Committee will use your research plan to determine
whether your project follows all the guidelines and safety regulations.
Note that results are not included at this stage. A poorly written
research plan, abstract and paper may ruin an otherwise excellent project.
Word processors are available at each school and at area libraries. When you use these, save on a formatted 3.5 disk or CDRom.
Make sure the spelling is correct. Use
a good high-school English grammar book. The
project is an exercise in writing as well as scientific skills.
Ask a teacher or someone whose English skills you trust to proofread the
paper before you turn it in.
Center
the project title. The title should be brief yet detailed enough that a reader
will have a good idea of what the report covers.
For example, “What mouth wash
kills bacteria best?” is
too vague while “The effect of various ingredients in commercial mouthwashes
on colony growth of E. coli strain K12”
is still brief but is much more informative (it specifies both the type of
bacteria that was studied and the chemical substances used.).
Include enough information so that after reading the title, a reader will
know what your report covers. The title should make the casual observer to
want to know more.
B.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis being tested in the study should be stated clearly in one
sentence.
C.
Description in detail of methods or procedures (including chemical
concentrations and drug dosages)
In this section, you tell your reader what you plan
to do, in paragraph form.. Do not
list materials, do not give
directions, and do not enumerate
steps. Your reader will be able to
determine what your materials were as s/he reads.
The Scientific Review Committee will use this information to determine if
your procedure follows the Intel rules. For
nonhuman vertebrate animal research, you must briefly discuss potential
alternatives and justify the use of nonhuman vertebrates.
The following is an example of incorrect format for this section:
1.
Vortex the broth culture of Escherichia
coli.
2.
Transfer 1 ml of the E. coli
broth to a bottle containing 99 ml sterile water.
Do
not enumerate steps and do not give directions!
These steps should be explained using the following format:
The
broth culture of Escherichia coli
will be vortexed. Then, 1 ml of the
E. coli culture will be
transferred to a bottle containing 99 ml sterile water.
State
the source of equipment and media and chemicals. Use the following formats to introduce the sources of
materials and equipment: “8 hr
cultures of E. coli (Presque
Isle) will be grown in tryptic soy broth (DIFCO)” and “to estimate growth,
the turbidity will be measured using absorbance at 550nm, with a
Spectronic 20 (Bausch and Lomb).” To
determine where lab equipment was purchased, check the piece of equipment or ask
the instructor. Consult the rule
book for specific requirements for hazardous chemicals, experimental risk, and
human subjects. Once again, this section should be written in paragraph form:
do not write a list of steps.
For high school projects only:
Include a sentence or two to show what aspect of your project subject matter,
equipment or procedure shows creativity (see addendum to Research Plan 1A in
application form). You will not be able to write this section until you
have done enough reading so that you understand what has already been done and
the results of past studies on your topic. Creativity is worth 30 points
out of 100 in the score sheet!
D.
Bibliography, or Literature Cited
This
section should be included in your application, and should be a list of your
background reading, with at least 3 sources.
If you use nonhuman vertebrate animals, you must have a reference on
animal care. Encyclopedias are not
usually acceptable for a research paper. You may find information in textbooks (preferably recent
ones), magazine and journal articles both in print form and online.
If you are having trouble finding information, consult an expert.
This list should be alphabetized by authors’ names and numbered consecutively.
Except when the list of authors is extremely long (10 or more), all
authors’ names are listed in this section in most journals.
Use “et al.” only when there are ten or more authors.
The format for the listings does vary among journals, e.g. some journals
omit article names, but this is a common style:
1.
Brock, T.D., M.T. Madigan, J.M. Martinko, and J. Parker. (1994) Biology
of Microorganisms.
Seventh edition. Prentice
Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. .
2.
Williams, N. (1995) The Trials and Tribulations of Cracking the Prehistoric Code.
Science 269:923-924.
In the last reference, the volume number is 269 and the page numbers are
923-924.
Rule
1 of research is: don’t trust your memory! Your project data book is a key
record of your work. Use a bound
notebook, with each page numbered and dated. Accurate and detailed notes make a
logical and winning project. Notes
should be original (not copied) and made at the time the experiment is carried
out. They should be the complete
story of your project, including errors, problems, corrections and your ideas as
you experiment.
The experiment should have a sufficient number of repeats to obtain consistent results. Based on preliminary results, feel free to change your procedure and/or hypothesis if there are problems or you can see a better way to do the experiment. Always use metric measurements when possible.
If
you are trying to find a difference between two products, treatments, etc, hide
brand names or other identifying features so you will not judge results
according to your prejudices.
Examine
your results. When you complete
your results, examine and organize your findings.
Did your experiments give the results you expected?
Why or why not? Try to understand any errors or explanations for results not
as you expected.
Draw
conclusions. Which variables are
important? Did you collect enough
data? Do your results support your
hypothesis?
Photographs
can be an excellent way of recording both procedure and results.
Use close-ups and good lighting.
Get your pictures developed before you throw anything away.
If
your data are quantitative, try to use a statistical analysis. Make charts or graphs to display measurements or other data
After
completion of your experiments rewrite the abstract to include any changes in
the experimental design and include your results. This section should be a brief
condensation of the whole project. It
should introduce the significance of the experiment(s), indicate the methods
used, summarize the most significant results, and emphasize the conclusions to
be drawn from the results. A simple
approach to writing this section is to write it after the research paper has
been written and to have it consist of one sentence covering the Introduction,
one sentence covering the Methods and Materials, etc.
While it is important to be brief in the Abstract, it is more important
to contain enough detail so that a reader will have a good idea of what is in
the paper. So, if you cannot
summarize a section in one sentence, use more.
Remember to focus on the essence of each section.
The Abstract is 100-250 words long, in one paragraph.
The judges will receive a copy of
this abstract, so be sure it is carefully written and proofread.
The
procedures you used must be written in clear and complete order. All results must be written out and discussed so that they
answer your earlier stated objective of the science project. Anything stated, as a fact must be backed up with
documentation
Design your BACKBOARD
This
is displaying all the actual work that you have done in a pleasing, legible, and
formal manner. Check the rules of
the science fair presentation to see if there are any restrictions.
The most common format is a three-sided backboard.
Find out how much space is available for your project and make sure your
backboard is large enough to accommodate your information.
The lettering should be large enough to be viewed from several feet away.
Don’t duplicate your written paper on the display board but tell your
story as simply as possible. Use
outline or bulleted form instead of paragraphs. Make sure the legend of your
graphs and charts are self- explanatory.
The
display board should tell the story of your project from top to bottom and
left to right in the following order (see Suggestions for written work and
display for more detail):
Title: centered as a header at the top of the display
board
Introduction: State the problem you want to solve and
your hypothesis
Procedure: list steps in experiment, using diagrams and pictures when possible. Here is a good place to use photographs taken during the experiment.
Results: clearly stated or shown with pictures,
charts, graphs, tables, or other visual aids
Conclusions: Compare results to hypothesis. Mention practical application or scientific value of project
Other
display items on table in front of board:
Data
notebook and background reading notebook with bibliography
Any
equipment or material used in the experiment (that is not excluded by rules)
Forms
required by International Science Exposition Fair (ISEF). Specifically, if your
project was carried out at a registered research institutional/industrial
setting, form 1C must be displayed. (see
application forms)
Practice your communication skills for
your INTERVIEW WITH THE JUDGES.
Judges
look for well thought-out research. They
are not interested in memorized speeches- they simply want to talk to you about
your research to see if you have a good grasp of your project from start to
finish. If your board is well
organized, it is easier for you to explain the project
and point out the most important parts of your procedure and results.
Don’t forget to mention your preliminary experiments or errors and how they
helped you to improve your procedure. Point
out your controls. Discuss and
evaluate your data (see **Results on p.3 of Suggestions for written work and
display).