Final Science Fair Paper

This is it! Wednesday in class we discussed the final step of the science fair report. If students kept pace, they should now have their report ready to put the final touches on. It is very appropriate for parents to take a look at the final product. Below you will find a checklist for the final editing process.

Title Page - Contains full name of the paper, student name, and school name.

Abstract - 150 word summary of entire project.

Table of Contents - Lists each section of the paper and the page it is found on.

Background Research - 2 - 3 pages summarizing the prior research on the subject. Should contain at least 3 in text citations.

Question/Hypothesis/Variables - Each on its own page. Each page heading should be centered but the body text should be justified left. Section headings should be 12 point but bolded. 

Materials - Bullet point list with exact brands, amounts, etc.

Methods/Procedures - Numbered list explaining step by step. Should be detailed enough that an outside source could replicate.

Results - Including Graphs and Data Tables - The written results section should be one to two long paragraphs. It includes all of the numerical results in words. Any numbers less than ten should be written out. All numbers larger than ten may be written in digits. This may be more than one page.

Conclusions - This is the analysis and discussion of the results. It's a minimum of three paragraphs. Be sure to include whether the hypothesis was supported or refuted. Also include any further research indicated and what impact the study should have on society. In other words, who cares?

Works Cited - All sources used must be listed in APA format. I highly encourage the use of http://citationmachine.net/index2.php . Be sure to change it to APA formatting. Once it formats the citation, copy and paste it on to the last page of the report. Reorder the citations to be in alphabetical order by author's last name.

That's it! Once that is all done, the report is finished and ready to go. Hit print, put it in a folder, and take a nap.