Students often dislike creating project display boards for science fair projects; however, presentations are crucial in conveying data in an easily understandable manner to judges.
Use tables and graphs to display numerical data, while diagrams can help present non-numerical information. Arrange sections from left to right and top to bottom for easy navigation.
Title
Your science fair project title is an integral component of its board, drawing attention and conveying information about its topic to judges. An imaginative title may pique their curiosity while dull ones might turn them away from your project altogether.
Competitions and teachers typically set forth rules or guidelines on what should be included on a project backboard, including but not limited to titles, questions, hypotheses, materials and procedures, results, conclusions, resources available and personal details.
Text on a science fair project board must be easily legible and large enough to draw in judges’ attention. Try using different font styles or colors for added impact. Select a background that complements visual elements, such as photos or charts.
Literature
After conducting extensive research and collecting data for analysis, it’s time to organize everything visually using a science fair project board.
Your science fair project board should feature either an abstract or hypothesis section. When outlining these ideas, it is necessary to support them with literature from scientific materials, articles and journals.
Visual elements, such as charts and graphs, should also be included on your science fair project board to make it more interesting for judges while at the same time showing that you conducted adequate research – two key components that can determine your score.
Procedure
Once you have chosen your topic or question, formulated your hypothesis, conducted your experiment, accumulated data, and presented your findings, the next step should be to present this data using tables or charts to display it all effectively.
Text should be easily legible and should complement the visual elements on a board. Font size should remain manageable so as to not overshadow visuals.
When designing your science fair project board, make sure to utilize colors and images relevant to its topic. Try to utilize as much visual aid as possible so your project stands out among its competition. Also save frequently to avoid losing information, and have at least two people proof-read before submitting it for submission.
Results
Your science fair board provides the ideal platform to showcase the results and drawbacks of your experiment and its findings, and your conclusions. While individual competitions or teachers may impose specific requirements, a typical project board includes clear titles in the top center that state what question or hypothesis your experiment addresses as well as any materials, diagrams or graphs relevant to that experiment conducted and materials needed.
Your results section should describe what was observed; avoid discussing their significance here as that should be saved for your discussion section. When possible, display data in tables and graphs so it is easily understood by judges; photos or illustrations can also be included to make your data even clearer. It is wise to keep a detailed lab notebook as some judges may request viewing yours!
Conclusions
Once students have conducted experiments and collected data, it’s time to put it all together into an organized science fair project board. A well-presented project will earn points from judges.
An effective science fair project board should contain all relevant details from its beginning to end, including background research, hypothesis, materials and procedure, results, and conclusions. Visual elements such as charts and graphs should also help the audience comprehend this information more easily.
Trifold boards are the preferred solution for project displays, as they’re quick and simple to assemble. Made out of cardboard or foam core boxes or specifically designed stands designed for project display boards, trifold boards make an impactful statement about your work while being easy to assemble. A dark color palette should also be considered since vibrant hues may distract too much and overtake your board display.