Re: How to set up a science project display board?

There have been a few questions recently asking for the same information.

In general, a display board might include the following elements;

    -  Title

    -  Background

    -  Statement of Objective (s)

    -  The Methods Used
       (How did you get your data and how was your data analyzed?)

    -  Data

    -  Results (What did you get when you analyzed your data?)

    -  Conclusions (How did you interpret your results?)

That is pretty much the same outline used in preparing laboratory reports.  
Now, with your display board, you also have to make it appealing.  In 
developing your layout, imagine you were preparing the front page story of a 
newspaper, headliner in really large letters, major topics (i.e. Results) maybe 
half as tall as those in the headliner, and the actual text in a font-size 
maybe twice the size of normal print.  Data, for instance, is usually best 
presented in a graphic rather than tabular form.  If a section (like results) 
has more than one page, you could probably get away with affixing the whole 
section to the board with only the first page showing, though it would be 
better if the section could be 'abstracted' (as in a shorter version prepared 
for display) and the reader referred to your written report which might be 
available with your complete display.  But, most of what I have said here are 
just my ideas.

Otherwise, on the web I tried the search terms

    +display_board +science_fair

and found the following;

    Display board for a 4th grade science fair project
    http://www.parlorcity.com/awinterrowd/sarina/boom/

    The ultimate science fair resource on display boards
    http://www.scifair.org/articles/display.shtml

Other references?  In my own collection I have Excellence in Business 
Communications, Thill and Bovee; Laboratory Experiments in College Physics, 
Bernard and Epp; Laboratory Manual in Conceptual Physics, Tillery; and 
Technical Writing and Professional Communications, Olsen and Huckin.  I looked 
through all of these before building this answer, but none of them is quite the 
reference I would prefer.  There may have been some guidance provided by your 
school, though that is not always the case.  Otherwise, your best bet is to 
check with your school or local community librarian for references on visual 
presentations.

Thanks for your question.

sid


MadSci Archive key phrases:  display board, science fair,
science fair display board