Making Your Project a Winner

There's no guaranteed way to assure yourself of winning, but there are some thing you can do that will improve your chances. First and foremost, you should have fun doing your science fair project as well as learning about the world around you. If your project is not fun, not something you like doing, it will be difficult to make a winner out it. What you need to do are the following:

1. Pick Something You're Interested In - It's hard to have fun working on a project you think is boring, and you won't learn much from a project you really don't care about. So the most important step is to pick a project that you really want to do, and one you can get enthusiastic about completing. Don't pick a project just because you think it looks easy, or because you have a friend that did the same project last year. Such an approach seldom produces a project you can win with.

Which subjects in school do you enjoy the most? What activities after school are you involved in? What type of music, television, and hobbies do you enjoy? If your project is somehow related to something you already enjoy, the chances are that you'll do a much better job and have a much greater chance of winning.

You don't have to do a highly sophisticated project in order to have a good one. A simple project can be a winner just as easily as a complex one. What's more important to the judges is your ability to demonstrate that you understand your project and that you have researched the issues and are knowledgeable of the scientific and technical facts that relate to your project.

If you're searching for ideas, you can begin at our ideas page where you can select from among numerous categories, each of which contains many ideas.

2. Don't wait until the last minute to start your project - There is nothing more frustrating than to see a student come rushing in at the last minute begging for help that should have been asked for a month before. Time and time again students will wait until a day or two before their project is due and then act like someone else should drop everything and help them do project overnight that should take several weeks if it is done right. Don't do that! Your teacher, advisor, or friends may sympathize with you but they can't make up for the time YOU lost. To have a winning project you have to spend quite a bit of time thinking about how it should work and planning out how to do it. Winning projects are NOT ones you throw together at the last minute thinking the judges won't notice how skimpy your research is and how hurriedly you tried to put it together.

How long a project should take depends on the project itself. Some you might be able to do in a week or two, others will require a month or more if done right. You need to have plenty of time to research background references and read about your topic, plenty of time to plan and do you experiments, and even some extra time built in just in case you need to repeat experiments that get ruined. And even after the research and experimentation is over, you need time to prepare both your written report and your display for the fair itself.

3. Do the Work Yourself - There's nothing wrong in asking for help. Other people can certainly share resources with you, advise you about how to set up the experiment, even show you how to complete some tests. But while others can advise you, make sure that you do the work yourself, and write your own reports.

Doing the work yourself will give you a much better understanding of how things work and why or why not your experimental results turned out the way they did. And remember... when the judges are at your exhibit, asking questions about your project, your friends won't be there to explain what was in a reference book you listed in your bibliography, your parents won't be there to explain why one part of the experiment was altered, and your teachers won't be there to explain why certain substances may have been substituted for others and why the experiment is still valid despite the substitution. When the judges are standing there, quizzing you, YOU have to know those answers, and the best way to learn them is to have done the work yourself.

4. Don't Get Upset If Your Hypothesis Is Incorrect - The whole purpose of an experimental science fair project is to see IF a certain hypothesis is correct, not to prove that you were right. When you state your hypothesis you are saying "I think this will happen, based on my research." But there are many factors that can cause a hypothesis to be incorrect, and sometimes, some of the most important discoveries are made because a hypothesis was wrong, not right. It's more important to understand what DID happen in your experiment that to have had a hypothesis proven.

5. Keep Accurate Records From Beginning to End - After your project is completed is NOT the time to go back, relying on memory and trying to construct a project data book. Get yourself a set of 3x5 cards or a spiral notebook and keep accurate notes from the very first day. Good notes demonstrate your consistency and thoroughness to the judges and will be invaluable in helping you prepare your final report.

6. Prepare An Attractive, Informative Display - A neat, attractive display makes it easy for the judges and visitors to examine your project and the results you achieved. Avoid the temptation to cram too much information into too small a space, which makes your display look cluttered and confusing. Pick out the 4 or 5 most important parts of your project and use them as heads which should stand out more boldly than the rest. If you have them available, make liberal use of colorful graphs and pie charts as a means of displaying your data in a form that is quickly understood.

And keep your display organized. It should be easy enough to read that that judges and visitors can quickly locate your title, hypothesis, experimental procedures, results and conclusions.

By the time you prepare your display you should have had your project titled long ago. You need a title which is a bit of an eye-catcher, even a bit dramatic, but it should still be accurate and to the point, one that makes judges and visitors want to know more about your project. Always avoid titles that are cute solely for the sake of being cute. It's better that you use a simple, straightforward title than one that is misleading.

If appropriate, use photos and photo collages to show the experiments as they took place. It's always true that "A picture is worth a thousand words", so don't hesitate to use them, especially if parts of your experiment are not on display at the fair. Photos are a great way to show what you did and how you did it in such cases.

7. More Tips For Your Display:
Most display boards are of the 3-panel version, but you should check well in advance to make sure that your display is correctly presented and sturdily constructed. Your display should not be flimsy and prone to collapsing or falling over. Make sure you observe the size limitations and follow all appropriate safety rules when preparing your display. Any required forms will have to be displayed so plan room for them right off the bat.

The purpose of your display is to show your project to the judges and visitors. Your content is the most important thing on the board and should be clear and easy to follow. As a general rule, your title should be on the center panel in large lettering. If necessary, let it wrap across all three panels. It should be eye-catching, easy to read, in dark letters and legible even across a room.

The left hand panel will most often contain your information relevant to the purpose of your project, the nature of the problem you were examining and the experimental methods and procedures you used. The right hand panel is reserved for your experimental results and conclusions. The center panel can then be used for illustrations, graphs and charts, and photographs as appropriate.

Your project notes and written report should be readily available on the display table and, if room permits, small portions of your experiment or testing equipment might also be on the display table to raise interest in your project.

Make your display boards look as professional as possible, something you would expect a businessman to. It should attract the attention of a viewer and make them want to come over and read about your project.

The use of color in your display will add eye appeal, but don't overdo it or you will lose much of the professionalism you're trying to convey. Stick to one or two colors that contrast, and avoid colors that clash with each other. In general, soft pastel backgrounds of pale yellow, blue or tan are nice, and will go nicely with black, red or blue lettering. You want to use just enough color to make your display pleasing to the eye, but not enough to overdo it. You want the judges focusing on the content of your project, not your sparkling use of color schemes. And finally, while fluorescent colors do stand out, it's best not to use them because most people think they look too flashy and cheap.

Good luck on your project!!!

  All Rights Reserved