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GETTING YOUR DISPLAY READY
Our emphasis is on a "poster session" approach where
the backboard should be the focus of the judges' attention.
It may contain written discussions and tables, graphs, and charts,
diagrams or drawings, and photographs. We ask that you leave at
home essentially anything that you used to do your experiment. Anything
that you do choose to bring must conform to the > Display & Safety Regulations.
Focus your energies on a backboard that will capture the judges'
attention and communicate your experiment and results to them,
leaving fragile, valuable, or otherwise unnecessary props at
home.
Purpose of the Display
The purpose of the display is to describe your research work to
the judges. On Wednesday of fair week they review your work in your
absence, and the projects are selected for judging interviews on Thursday.
The preliminary round of judging is your most important hurdle to
overcome. At least one panel of judges (usually a group of three
to five people) and sometimes (if your project is assigned multiple
categories) as many as five panels of judges will review your work. Speciual Awards on decided on Wednesday as well.
Your job in preparing your display is to present the research aspects
of your work as clearly and concisely as possible. A great project
may escape the judges' attention if key elements are not presented or are buried
in the back of a notebook.
You can buy ready made display boards in a range of colors with
header cards (title cards). Just look for presentation boards at
office supply stores.
What to Bring
First time participants seem to think that they have to bring all
their laboratory equipment and/or gadgets to show their work.
This really is not what the display is all about. No commercial
equipment of any type is allowed as part of the display except
during final judging. Furthermore, no power will be provided for
the project until the finalist judging. In the preliminary judging
round, judges are looking for a description of what you set out to
do, how you did it, special apparatus that you might have
developed, your data, your interpretation of your data, results,
and conclusions. For many projects all of this can be displayed
using a poster display with laboratory notebooks, key references,
previous work, and a research report to provide details
that are too complex for the backboard.
Some projects, such as
those dealing with computer software, will need special treatment
to convey the importance of the work without having the
computer present. The test is whether you can get your point
across to an audience in your absence. The fact that you used a
computer to model a process or compile your results does not
mean that you need the computer at the fair to make your point.
Of course, if your result is the operation of software that you
developed, then you need to show typical results, pictures of
computer screens, a description of the code that you wrote, etc.
If a model that you built is important to telling the story, then you
might choose to display it in a protective case. But, remember,
no commercial equipment will be allowed except during final
judging.
If you are called as a finalist to present your work to the judges,
then you can bring special apparatus, computers, etc., to help
describe your work provided that the equipment complies with
the safety rules.
Photographs of delicate specimens, your experimental setup,
etc. will enhance your story. Good close-ups are beyond the
capability of regular cameras without additional lenses. Digital
cameras make photography easy these days.
Display Space
Everyone gets the same space allocation and not an inch more,
no matter what. Whether your display is set up on a science fair
provided table (30 inches high) or on the floor is your choice.
Regardless of your choice of table or floor, your project must
not be higher than 9 feet (108 inches) when measured from the
floor. The width is limited to 4 feet (48 inches) and the depth to
30 inches. Size includes anything that you leave at the fair. If
your display needs a brace, or an easel, the space that these items
occupy is included in the size measurement. Prior to the fair, set
up your project at home and check the dimensions. We're
serious about the size limitations, so you should work out any
problems in advance.
Display Construction
The overall size (within fair restrictions) is up to you. Big
displays don't necessarily mean good projects. Use whatever
space it takes to tell your story. Materials for the backboard can
vary from plywood to cardboard to styrofoam. Again, the
choice is yours. Do get help in choosing the materials and
cutting out the pieces. Some schools have reusable backboards,
check and see. You can purchase very nice backboards. Your
display must be free-standing! There are no walls to lean your
display against and if you plan on propping it up against the
display behind you, forget it!
Display Lettering
Determine the size of your lettering based on reading distance.
Three feet is typically reading distance for a display. Some type
size suggestions are:
- Project Titles, 2 inches high
- Subtitles, 0.5 inches high
- Lettering, 0.25 inches high
Make your title clear and easy to read. Avoid type styles that
may be hard to read. Fonts that have shadows or outlines may seem like a great idea but they are harder to read than
simple lettering. Computer generated lettering is easy and
economical. The title lettering should be at least 2 inches high.
Press-on letters are great if your budget can afford them.
Display Graphics
Deciding on the color scheme and other artistic aspects of your
display can be a lot of fun. But if science is your thing, you may
have to learn a thing or two about graphic art. Your school's art
teacher might be a source of ideas and hints for layout, choice
of colors and type styles. Television ad layouts, type sizes and
colors used in newscasts, etc. are good and easy to come by as
references. Look at some TV news or weather channels and
check out the size (measure on the screen with a ruler) and the
color schemes of the lettering and see how far from the set you
can read it. Type sizes and color schemes that can be read from
6 to 8 feet are good for titles and subtitles.
- What to Include in the Display
There are few formal requirements for the display contents. It
is up to you. Ideas are presented here to help get you started.
- On the Backboard
- Project's hypothesis or, if it's an engineering project, state
the goal.
- Background or introduction describing briefly what has
been done previously by others.
- Experimental plan or procedure: For engineering projects
provide design analysis, calculations, drawings, as appropriate.
- Results- Best handled with brief summaries (leave the
lengthy details for your notebook or research report with a
footnote on the backboard for where the judges should
look). Graphs of data are best. A picture is really worth a
thousand words. Graphs are easier to interpret than tables
full of numbers.
- Conclusions- Summarize your important findings.
- Discussion and applications- A few words about ideas that
you plan to explore (provided you're planning to continue
the work) might be interesting. Applications of your work,
especially if they are not obvious might be really exciting.
On the Table
- Notebooks, journals, reference articles, etc. which document
your work. These need not be fancy. Bring what you
really used to write down your observations, your thoughts,
and your analysis. Share your rough materials with the
judges.
- Abstract- A brief description of your research summarized
to 250 - 300 words.
- Your Research Report forces you to organize your results
and think through the analysis and presentation. Experienced
competitors at the International Science and Engineering
Fair prepare their research reports first and, then
develop their displays. At the 9th through 12th grade
competition level, a report is essential if you go on to
compete at the International Science and Engineering
Fair. The research report is not intended to be a longwinded
library thesis about stuff you read in an encyclopedia.
It's supposed to be about your work- The story that you
would tell the judges about each item in your display if you
were there.
- Some hints on preparing your research report are described
here. First, decide on what figures (drawings, pictures,
graphs, and tables) are important to describe your project.
Just make mock-up pages at first. Then, prepare the real
thing. At this point, you will probably find that you missed
doing something in your experimental work and may need a
few “fill-in” experiments, measurements, whatever, to round
out the story. If yours is an engineering project, cover the
following: the specifications of what it is that you're trying to
accomplish; your design; measurements or redesign; and,
finally, results and conclusions.
- Experimental hardware (if needed), specimens, samples,
simulated items, etc. It depends on what you feel is important
to display your findings.
- What NOT to Include in Your Display
- No Props - Commercial equipment is not allowed through the
preliminary judging phase so leave things like thermometers,
blood pressure cuffs, voltmeters, stop watches, and laboratory
equipment at home.
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No Hazardous Materials - Practically any chemical should be
left home. For more detail, please read the rules and regulations
one more time.
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Don't Show Your Name, School Name and Pictures that
identify you on the backboard - Your name and school can
appear on your official ISEF abstract, journals, and reports.
Pictures of you working on your project are permitted.
Bring Your Own Setup Tools and Supplies -
Make up a tool kit containing whatever you need to assemble
your display at the fair. Extra tape, pins, paper, scissors, glue,
screwdrivers, pliers, hammer, whatever you think that you might
need. The fair's physical layout committee is prepared to loan
you some things, but it is best to be prepared.
Best wishes for a rewarding experience!
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