1) The board behind your project tells people what your project is about. It includes titles, graphs, pictures… anything that clarifies your experiment and makes people WANT to know more.

2) As long as the colors of your project don’t make the judges dizzy, color is ok. However, remember that this is a serious event, and overly colorful projects may be seen as less scientific and more “perky.”

3) At the science fairs I took part in, the judges came around and listened to my oral presentation. This is the chance for you to shine. If you truly built the engine, you would SOUND like it. Writing detailed procedures can also improve your credibility.

4) Most science fair projects have data comparing one thing to another thing. For example, the height of a plant when given water, versus the height of a plant when given water and fertilizer. Then, you would analyze the data (compare the two plants, or two groups of plants, and draw a conclusion about the effect of water/fertilizer on plant growth). For your project, you would have to come up with some sort of quantitative data to measure and analyze.

5) The scientific method refers to the process of making a hypothesis, conducting the experiment to gather data, and deciding whether your data refutes or affirms your hypothesis.

Good luck!