Elementary Science Fair Projects

Your Display Board is the first impression of your science fair project. It is a display that tells the story of all your efforts. So keep it simple, very neat and well organized.

Need help making your own top-notch display board? SmartDraw is the easy drawing software that comes with thousands of clip art images you can use for your middle school, high school or elementary science fair projects. Just click, drag, and print your way to a A+ project!

CLUE No. 6
Elementary Science Fair Projects
DISPLAY BOARD / BACKBOARD
Visual Exhibit of Your Science Project

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Elementary Science Fair Projects

#13!

Before you purchase any materials, read your school's guidelines. Your school may have different requirements for elementary science fair projects than for Middle or High School. Also, rules change from school to school regarding sizes, shapes and material composition for the backboards /display boards /exhibit boards.

FIRST STEP
Look at the example of a display board. Notice that it is simple, neat, well organized and invites a person to visit and learn more. And isn't that what you want? For the judges to be attracted like a magnet to your project!

If you are going to enter the INTEL ISEF competition to see what the required dimensions are for a display board.

Use your creativity. Envision in your mind how you want your board to look. On a piece of paper sketch a design that is in balance and flows - as illustrated in the above example. Make copies of your sketch. Use crayons or colored pencils to try out different color combinations.

Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
MATERIALS

• A display board is made up of sturdy material, has 3 panels that fold out so that the board can stand up by itself. Do not use a flimsy poster board. It will constantly be falling down, which irritates teachers and judges.
• You can construct a display board from pegboard, plywood, corkboard, particleboard or foam board. If you make your display board, choose a material that is light and easy to carry. A wood board is too heavy to carry.
• A cover for the homemade display board can be contact paper, wallpaper or fabric. Use a color that is one of the three colors of your color scheme.



• On the back of the display board list your name, school, grade, science teacher's name.
• Use rubber cement or double sided tape. White glue wrinkles the paper.

   

• Use construction paper to make a border around your papers. Choose a color that matches the title letters.
• Self-adhesive Titles / Letters. Click here to look at what you will need.

Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
COLOR SCHEME
Decide on a color scheme for your display board. Use no more then 3 contrasting colors : background color, color used to frame your papers, and ink used for the story of your report (black is easy to read). Do not use neon colored display boards or lettering. It takes away from the display and does not look professional.


Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
TITLE and SUBTITLES
The Title is a shortened version of the conclusion in your project paper.

Make your TITLE HEADINGS look professional. Self-adhesive letters are sharp are an excellent choice. They are available at a teacher's store or an office supply store.

You can design the letterheads on a computer. If your printer does not print sharp looking images, then copy the design to a disk or CD-ROM and bring it to your local print shop.

Make the TITLE letters larger than the subtitles. Place the title at the top of the middle panel. Display photographs, drawings, charts and tables underneath the title. You will find more information about charts and tables on the science fair experiment page.

Use a darker color for the title and subtitles such as dark blue, green and purple, royal blue, medium green and purple. Lighter colors can be used such as light blue, yellow, light green as a background for the letters, but it really isn't necessary if you have a white display board.

Before gluing TITLE HEADINGS permanently to the display board, lay them out on the board in a neat and logical order.


Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
PAGES ON DISPLAY

• Type and print the report pages that are going to be displayed on the display board. Make the print large enough so that a person standing in front of your table can read it without squinting or leaning forward to see. Place a border around the report pages that is in your color scheme. For the border paper, purchase colored construction paper at your local office supply store.

  If you have to buy large sheets of construction paper, cut them to size. Use a ruler and pencil, lightly mark the outer margins where you will cut. Use a paper cutter at school or at your local print shop.
   

• Computer generated tables, graphs, and charts look best. This link will lead you to a free download. If you don't use computer generated graphs and charts then use graph paper. Make your drawings neat. Use colored pencils to accent the varying results.
   
• Have a focal point from which the other pages, tables, graphs, charts and photos stem. This will create continuity and flow.

• Spice up your science fair project with Smart Draw Graphics.

Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
DRAWINGS
To create poster size images, first draw in pencil and then retrace your drawings and sketches. Using an Opaque Projector at school, tape a large piece of paper on the wall and trace the outline of your drawing projection. It is important to make the drawings in proportion to the other materials that are on your display board.

Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
PHOTGRAPHS
8" X 10" or 5"x 7" are excellent sizes for your display board. Place them in sequential order. Remember to frame them in one of the 3 colors. Photo stores can enlarge them for you. Some printing shops such as Kinkos can usually reproduce them for less cost. Make one copy first to check the quality.

Follow the KIS principle - Keep it Simple!

Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
DISPLAY PLACED ON TABLE TOP

Place each sheet of the Abstract and Project Report (located on the easy science fair projects page) in individual 3-ring plastic sheet protectors. They can be purchased at your local office supply store.

Adhering to your color scheme, put the Abstract in a 3-ring folder, Project Report in a 3-ring notebook.

Print a separate label for each of the binders.

Arrange these items neatly on the table in front of your display board.

Middle School, High School or Elementary Science Fair Projects
MODELS AND EQUIPMENT

Do not let the models that you made, equipment or parts of the display hang over the table. Keep everything off the floor.

Attach three-dimensional objects to the display board at the fair - not at home.

Ask your science teacher if you are permitted to cover the table with a cloth. If so, coordinate the color with the color scheme of your display board.

Neatly arrange model and or equipment in an organized fashion, along with your Abstract,
Science Projects Journal / Log, and Science Report, on the table in front of the display board.

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Elementary School Science Fair Projects #13

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Patricia Bitner Provost Award at SIUC	Rachel Dobrich Mokena, IL	Francis Lawrence Jr Lisle, IL

Worms Science Fair Projects creates perfect elementary science fair projects for both students and as classroom projects.

The Poster Minicourse
Although the hints on this page are for poster boards, they apply to display boards. The author reveals the little things that can make a big difference.

Free Photos and Clip Art
These photos can be used to enhance your science fair project. Either download the photos or right click on the picture, copy, then paste to your word processing page. You must pay a fee if you are going to use the pictures for commercial reasons.

Super Science Fair Projects eBook gives you a Winning Edge with a detailed, step-by-step, easy how-to format. You don't have to search the web site because our instantly downloadable eBook puts everything at your "fingertips"! Secret Resources for students are left by Detective Inuit, former Rookie of Detective ThinkMore. Parent's Resource Guide.

Before you leave this page you may want to look at other 1st prize winning science fair projects that are on this site for elementary, high school and middle school science fair projects students.