Presentation

Project finished? Here's how to effectively tell your story

Science Service

This attractively designed display, built to explain a Wilson cloud chamber, won a Fourth Award for Margaret Cairns of Wilmington, Del. Cardboard was sufficient to display photos. Note the attractive artwork, neat lettering and arrangement of the photographs. Display effectively explains the project.

Elaborate display constructed to hold actual equipment necessitated heavy construction. Device, an experimental linear accelerator made by Michael lohnson of Lebanon, Mo., operates by creating a vacuum in glass tube. An ion source at bottom emits electrons which strike a target at the top.
 
This neat display was made •with pegboard woven together as shown, and featured a tape-recorded explanation which could be heard on telephone handsets mounted at the front. Artificial induction of sex-reversal in chick embryos was the 1961 award-winning project of Beth Burt of Boise,

Idaho.
 
Communication of ideas, data, results, and conclusions is one of the most important aspects of all scientific effort. Professionals report their findings in journals, texts, and in papers presented at scientific meetings. You must report the results of your work through a presentation at the science fair.

Your presentation is the end product of all your time and effort, and is the only link between you and your audience. Usually, judges have no prior contact with entrants. They have no advance idea of the problems you solved, the thinking you did, and the approaches you followed. Now is the time to tell your story.

At some fairs, judging is done on the basis of displays only (finalists may be interviewed later). Some administrators feel that this type of competition gives everyone an equal chance, since some entrants are better talkers than others. At other fairs, the judges will examine your project while you are there, and will ask you to explain it to them (this may feel like the third degree!). Check the rules under which your local fair will operate.

In any case, your display should speak for you. It must be complete to the point of including operating instructions for any functioning parts that you want the judges to see in action. It should be detailed, but unconfused. The judges will not have time to sift through a hodgepodge to pick out key points. A good display will not improve a poor project, but it will make a moderately good project look better. And, poor presentation can knock the best project out of the running.
 

Science Service Photos
 
Hinged wood panels were used to support apparatus for this project (above). Crossbar steadies display and holds floodlight. Project, constructed by Omer Burnett of Goodwater, Ala., dealt with determining rates at which very slow chemical reactions proceed and the half-lives for reactions using radioactive isotopes and low-level counting.

The project of Ramsey Lammers of St. Charles. Mo., was designed to show the marked similarity between natural and synthetic materials, and won a Fourth Award at the 12th NSF-I. Pegboard made an ideal material for mounting test tubes, etc., with neat captions underneath each of the samples.

A Study Of The Solar Cell

A blinking light and a rotating color wheel were used in this display with a specific purpose in mind. Meters showed variations in electrical output from solar cells. Neat lettering, captions and artwork also added to the presentation. Project was done by Rosemary Smith of Carlsbad, N. M.

Actually, some projects stand or fall on presentation: display projects (attempts to make, prove, or display some observation, concept, principle or technique), and theoretical projects. How a display project is organized and designed is as important as how an experimental project is performed or how an engineering project is built. The presentation of a theoretical project must convey all that has been concluded and outline the worker's train of thought.

Designing a presentation is one of those jobs that looks easy until you try it. Over a long period of time, you can easily forget which parts of your project are difficult to understand from the layman's point of view. Put yourself in the shoes of an interested observer, and look at your work in a critical light. Pick out the sections that need explaining, and the points you feel best indicate what you have accomplished.

One science fairer, for example, developed a launch control center for amateur rocket firings. He observed that many launchings were frantic affairs, that someone had to adjust instruments, someone else make sure that the rocket was positioned, a third person check electrical connections and arm the rocket, and still another person had to push the "fire" button. To eliminate communication and coordination difficulties, the student designed a clever device that combined all four jobs into one. His launch control center presented all the information to a single control officer who fired the rocket.

The strong points of the launch control center project were its safety in comparison to other launching methods and the convenience afforded by its grouped controls. The science fairer built his exhibit to emphasize these factors. Even though his project was concerned with amateur rocketry, he played down actual rockets in his display. Had he discussed rocketry, there •would have been a "gap" in his presentation. After all, how could he have discussed anything that he hadn't done any work on?

In other words, orient your presentation around what you feel you actually have accomplished.

Presentation Check List

To tell your story properly, your presentation should be clear, concise and descriptive. Check it against the following list:

1. Description of your topic; aims and purpose of your project.

2. The importance of your topic in your chosen scientific area (optional).

3. Description of how you tackled the problems involved.

4. Details of the work you did, experiments you performed, tests or studies you made.

5. Demonstration of things you built, or exhibition of collections and displays.

6. Data and other results you obtained.

7. Documentation and records.

8. Explanation of any hard-to-under-stand concepts or procedures.
 
9. Photographs, charts, diagrams, sketches, and any other illustrative material connected with your project.

10. Conclusions you reached and your own evaluation of your work.

If you have done experimental work, plan to set up your apparatus and have it working if possible. Engineering projects should also be operating unless this is impractical or dangerous. Leave at home extraneous materials and equipment not directly concerned with your work.

Science Service

Organize your documentation and records. Know the sources of your research information so that you can credit the proper individuals, and can back up the parts of your project based on outside reading.

List your sources of supply for major items including sources of free or borrowed materials. Compute the total cost of your project, and estimate the time you spent working on it. Nearly everyone visiting a fair asks for these figures.

Practical Display Techniques

A bookshelf of texts on display techniques is waiting for you at your local library. Any specific questions you have on artistic merit or use of materials can probably be answered by your high-school art teacher, or by a local commercial art products supplier.

Look around you, and you will see thousands of examples of good display technique. Advertisers are in constant competition with each other to grab your attention and focus your interest on their products. Magazine advertisements, billboard displays, and even package wrappings can show you ways of getting information across in an interesting manner. Pay particular attention to color schemes. Note which colors catch your eye first, and which color combinations stand out. Use relatively bright colors in your display to help emphasize important points, but use quieter shades to fill in details.

Effective presentation of a theoretical project is especially challenging. At left, Stewart Wood of Bladensburg, Md., explains his winning project entitled "Pascal's Triangle in Three Dimensions." Note the use of triangular-shaped models to explain this concept.

Meticulous lettering, neat artwork and mounted samples helped make this project, entered by Mizue Mori of Japan, a Fourth Award winner. The project, a study on cuprammonia silk, was one of many entered in the 12th National Science Fair-International that came from foreign country.
 
Science Service Photos
 
Remember that there is a limit to the amount of information that can be pre sented in one display. Too much detail makes the presentation seem cluttered. There are many ways of working a fixed amount of material in a set amount of space. You know what you have to say and the size of the exhibit you can have. Your display must be clear and understandable. As long as these two requirements are met, it can take any shape or form.

One of the most common display techniques is to simply paste photographs, drawings, and other information on a sheet of white cardboard to be placed behind the project. Although this is usually an effective way of getting the information across, a little thought and effort can turn what would otherwise be a "rogues' gallery" into a good-looking presentation.

You might try organizing your illustrations in groups relating to the various parts of your project. Divide the blank cardboard into several different areas with broad, painted lines, or by painting adjacent areas in different colors. Group your illustrations in the appropriate spaces, arranging them carefully with an eye toward symmetry. Organization can make your display much more attractive and interesting. It will also make

your project much easier to understand.

Hypothesis, aims, data and conclusions, along with photographs and artwork, were neatly pasted on a dark background for the award-winning presentation shown in the photograph below. "DNA Mechanisms in Viral Infections" was project of nationals finalist David Goodson, Aubum. Wash.

Light Retention By The Eye

Your presentation should be neat and well executed. Sloppy lettering, dirty display boards, or otherwise messy work is unnecessary and detracts from your project. A little research will turn up many different lettering techniques you can use.

Letter decals are available in many sizes and colors. Precut plastic and cardboard letters are handy, but they are expensive. If you are a neat and patient worker, lettering stencils are a good answer to the problem. Forming each letter with colored plastic tape is a neat and easy-to-use method. Take a tip from your daily newspaper and "headline" the project title and other important points.

Materials commonly used for building exhibits include plywood, fiberboard, peg-board and thick cardboard. If you plan to mount heavy parts on your display, use a sturdy material such as plywood or peg-board. Photographs and diagrams don't require anything stronger than cardboard. Don't forget portability and ease of assembly when you design your display.

Make sure your display conforms to local science fair specifications. Space limitations at exhibition halls set a limit on the maximum dimensions of each display. National Science Fair-International rules specify that a project must be no larger than four feet wide by two and a half feet deep.

Notify science fair officials if you have any special requirements such as electricity, running water, or a quiet location. At every science fair there is at least one exhibitor who has been placed in the center of the room, far from the nearest electrical outlet. Make sure that you have everything you need to set up quickly. Extension cords, tools, scotch tape, thumbtacks, and other necessities will usually be impossible to get at the fair unless you have your own.

Talking About Your Project

Those who think of themselves as shy and retiring may be interested to learn that past science fairers always report that exhibiting their projects gave them new self-confidence and poise. If you have a tendency to get flustered, do an especially good job on your display. That way, everything you intend to say will be in front of you, and you won't have a chance to go into a characteristic "ceiling stare."

Simple, uncluttered display tells the story of this project, "Light Retention by the Eye," entered by Mary Corneil of Baytown, Texas. She measured the length of time light is retained in the eyes after exposure for different periods at different brightnesses using the apparatus shown above.

The following tips will help you present your project effectively:

1. Make sure you know your topic. Brush up on those few points you skipped over during your original research. Be up-to-date with the latest techniques so you can discuss your field intelligently at the fair.

A collection of "rocks" became an award-winning project due to efforts of James Bishop of Adams-ville. Tenn. His work represented six years of collecting and classifying fossils of animals which were in existence 60 to 70 million years ago. Map of locale highlights this interesting display.

Direct conversion of heat to electricity by magnetohydrodynamics was the project of Keith Plossl of Springfield, Mass., a Fourth Award winner. The display lettering was neatly done using stencils. Lettering can also be done freehand, using special letter cutouts, or with colored plastic tape.

2. Formulate good answers in your mind to the questions your friends and family have asked you. Chances are that visitors at the fair will ask about the same things. Have reference materials handy if needed.

3. Don't use big or technical-sounding words or phrases just because they sound impressive. Picture yourself going into a supermarket and asking for a "well coagulated mixture of myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, plamitoleic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, butyric acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, and lauric acid." Your mother would probably ask for a pound of butter!

4. Don't talk "up" or "down" to the judges. Assume that they are on your technical level. Answer any questions as directly as you can. In other words, don't throw in a lot of unasked for conversation; the judges may have a limited amount of time to spend on your project.

5. Don't "fake" or bluff. If you are stuck on some point, or were unable to solve an important problem, admit it. The judges will be probing hard after weak points, and they are bound to hit one or two. This will not discredit your work unless you bluff unsuccessfully.

6. Don't memorize a speech that describes your project. It will sound stiff and unnatural. If you can't talk "off the top of your head," go through a few trial presentations at home and prepare a simple outline listing the points you want to cover. Keep this in front of you as a guide when you speak.
7. Answer all questions asked by interested visitors or other science fairers. Don't be the exhibitor who answers: "It's just too complicated to explain to some one without an extensive technical back ground."

8. Don't "hide in a corner" and make the judges and visitors draw you out. You are displaying your work, so stand up straight and describe your project proudly.

Science Service Photos

This project on "Electro-Germination" was designed by Allen Redmann of Crystal. N. D., who used simple display techniques to explain a simple, but valid, experiment. The effects of electron bombardment on seeds and seedlings relative to percentage of germination, speed of germination, disease eradication and plant mutation were studied by treating seeds in a vacuum jar to a static electrical charge of electrons, then growing.

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