Science fair project boards provide an ideal way of conveying details of your experiment to judges. Content should flow smoothly from top to bottom and left to right on the board.
Many competitions stipulate specific formats and sizes for project boards; using pre-printed display boards may be one easy solution to meet these rules and guidelines.
Layout
After spending hours or even days brainstorming ideas, conducting experiments and gathering data, it’s time to present all that effort on a display board. A professionally presented display will grab judges’ attention while helping them understand your experiment and results.
Arrange the information about your science fair project from left to right and top to bottom for ease of judging by judges. This makes it simple for them to scan your board quickly and identify which elements are most essential in scoring your work.
Block and grid layouts feature one large image or text surrounded by smaller ones; storyboard or poster styles can also be used. Some projects make use of graphs that make their data easy for judges to interpret quickly – such as bar graphs, line graphs and pie charts. Whatever style or layout you use for your science fair presentation, make sure it conforms with any guidelines provided by local science fair organizers.
Text and Graphics
An effective project board should feature an easily navigable structure with easy-to-read text. Content should be organized into sections and progress from top to bottom and left to right – with project titles displayed prominently at the center of the board, and any noteworthy data or graphs presented in its results section.
Photographs, drawings and diagrams should be used to present non-numerical data more effectively than tables of numbers. Too much information on your science fair board may become overwhelming for judges and make it more difficult for them to comprehend your findings.
Use a Creately template to assist with designing your project board, or draw charts and graphs by hand using a drawing tool for professional results. Before adhering everything onto your board, test out its layout and make any necessary adjustments – this will ensure your presentation will look its best at the science fair!
Photos and Diagrams
Utilizing photos and diagrams helps make science fair project boards more appealing, while simultaneously helping judges quickly comprehend the results of experiments more quickly. Graphs and charts can also be particularly effective. Students should always ensure that any display boards they present do not violate human informed consent laws – for instance photos depicting vertebrate animals used for dissection or necropsies are prohibited from being included.
Student three-panel posters should include an Introduction or Hypothesis section, Literature review and Experimental Procedure details, Data and Results sections as well as a conclusion section which expands on the research question and compares and contrasts its hypothesis with the final results. Each section should adhere to published guidelines; with project titles glued onto center panels large enough to read from several feet away and materials listed either horizontally or vertically in a Materials section.
Colors
Making an eye-catching project display board provides students with an excellent way to reinforce the knowledge gained from science experimentation. From selecting their topic and planning an experiment through data collection and interpretation to sharing their results on poster, this process teaches students the art of scientific investigation as well as how to write reports, research findings, and convey what they have discovered.
Students looking to impress judges with their presentation of an experiment can do so through providing an organized and visually-appealing display. All information must be easily readable; fancy fonts may distract judges and take away from their focus on your project’s contents. Whenever possible, use white or light backgrounds so text stands out more. Also avoid wrapping title into both left and right panels; this could prove harmful in terms of viewer attention span.