Science Fair Backboard Display
Science Fair Backboard Display
1. Use a three-sided backboard for display. Your backboard may be cardboard or foam. You may use white or a colored backboard. You may cover the backboard with cloth or felt. Be careful when covering the backboard to secure the material. (Paper is not recommended due to the difficulty with folding.)
2. Try to make the backboard organized in a way that is thorough, but not crowded. The project title should go at the top of the center panel, and the remaining materials need to be placed in some order. Some examples of the placement of headings are available on the next page. (Before you glue everything down, lay the board on a flat surface and arrange the materials in different ways to see which is the best layout for your project.)
3. The title and other headings should be neat and large enough to be read at a distance of about 3 feet (1m). Make sure your title is appropriate for your project and reflects the problem to be tested. Avoid using vague or cute project titles. The title should be succinct, descriptive of the project and reflect the research problem. (See handout “What’s in a Name?”)
You may purchase self-sticking letters of various sizes and colors. You can cut out the letters out of construction paper. (Always trace the reverse of the letter and then glue down the side without the tracing marks.) You may also use the computer to print colorful headings.
4. Color can make your backboard attractive. A common technique is to use the colored construction paper behind the typed white paper containing your text. Make sure not to use a color that is glossy or fluorescent. Try to stay with a color theme and select a color that does not distract the viewer from the material being presented. Make sure to have straight edges.
5. Use rubber cement or a glue stick to secure your paper. The paper will not wrinkle and with rubber cement, any excess glue can be rubbed off easily. Double sided tape is good for photos. (Try not to have any tape showing.)
6. Use photos or draw diagrams to help explain your experimental setup. (Captions should be included with the source for every picture or image.) Information such as postal, web, and e-mail addresses, telephone and fax numbers is allowed only for the exhibitor. The only photographs or visual depictions of identifiable or recognizable people allowed are photographs of the exhibitor, photographs taken by the exhibitor (with permission of individuals received), or photographs for which credit is displayed (such as from magazines, newspapers, newspapers, websites, journals, etc.) Be careful with product copyright violations.
7. Proofread for errors.
8. Only paper is allowed on the backboard. No other material is allowed to be attached to the backboard.
What’s in a Name?
Give your project a title. It’s easy. Just plug the appropriate words into this formula:
The effect of the (independent variable) on (the dependent variable).
Example:
The effect of rubber band width on flight distance.
**Rubber band width is the independent variable (the variable being changed).
Flight distance is the dependent variable (the variable that responds to a change/the variable you will measure).
Often colonated titles work well for student research projects. Colonated titles use one to five short, attractive words first, followed by a colon and an added descriptive phrase.
Examples:
Artificial wetlands: A model for microbial sequestration of copper
Battle of the brains: Which gender has the most effective short-term memory?
Bottled spring water: Can you taste the difference?
Corrosion: The effects of certain liquids on metal.
Get a Grip: Hand grip versus forearm circumference
Feather, fur, or fat: Which will keep an animal the warmest?
Do not use short, vague, trick, pet, “cute or comic” names for project titles, experimental organisms, or specimens. Identify research subjects or individuals in sampled population by letters or numbers. (http://www.ohiosci.org/sds.htm)
Pregame Prediction
Before you start your experiment, you want to state your hypothesis. Use this formula:
If (the independent variable) is (describe how you change it), then the (dependent variable) will (describe the effect).
Example:
If the width of the rubber band is increased, then the distance the rubber band flies will decrease.
Parts of an Experiment
Variables: The things in an experiment that change or could be changed.
Independent Variable: The variable that you change on purpose.
Dependent Variable: The variable that responds to a change in the independent variable.
(This will be how you measure your results.)
Hypothesis: A prediction of how changing the independent variable will affect the
dependent variable.
Constants: Variables in an experiment that are kept the same in all trials.
Control group: The standard for comparison in an experiment. This is the group without
the variable added.
Experimental group: This is the group with the variable added.
Repeated trials: The number of times an experiment is repeated. Due to the nature of
projects, it is not possible to state minimum sample sizes. (For district
and state competition, adequate sampling sizes and repeated trials is
necessary. The use of statistics is recommended.