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A Comprehensive Abstract Sheet for Your Next Science Fair Project
What is an Abstract in Science Fair?
Knowing how to write a science fair abstract for your project will be a great asset for you because in those limited words – approximately 250 words in all – you will be able to let your reader know what to expect in the upcoming pages.
However, the downside to not knowing how to write an abstract for a science project is that if the abstract is poorly worded or organized, the reader will not be compelled to read on and will simply toss the report in the trash can.
Guide Tips for Creating a Science Fair Project Abstract
The generic flow of a science project abstract is no different from writing an abstract for any other document. Devote a sentence or two (max) to the following components:
- Kick off with the introduction and give an overview of the project
- Next up will be the problem definition where you will state the hypothesis that you were checking through the project
- Subsequently, identify the dependent and the independent variables studied in the research and the research approach adopted to study their correlation
- In the results portion, cite definite data figures & the summation of the derived results
- Lastly, clearly affirm the conclusion that has been reached.
Remember that you have to divide the total allowed word count of 250 words among 5 elements so that comes down to 50 words for each part. Therefore, choose fitting & meaningful words accordingly.
Step by Step Guide to Writing a Science Fair Abstract
Writing an abstract for a science fair project can be a daunting task as there is so much you need to fit in but so less margin of words to write in. To convey the whole concept of your science fair project is an art in itself and to master it, you must learn the following little tips that will get you through this whole workload with a couple of clicks.
Step # 01: Choosing the Right Words
To convey all the information about your project and still make it between the word limit, you need to be as precise as possible. An easy way to do this is to break down your project into five main questions that you should answer separately and then mesh them together to form a brief summary about your project. These questions should be:
- Briefly state the topic and your reason for choosing it.
- Tell a bit about the hypothesis of the experiment.
- What did you have to do to carry out the experiment?
- What occurred in your experiment?
- What lesson did you gain from your project?
Step # 02: Drafting Your Abstract
Now that you have had all the important questions answered related to your project, the next thing you should do is to draft an abstract using those answers and making a few changes in between so that it comprises of one paragraph all in all. You don’t need to fret about the word count just yet. You can adjust things later. At this point, just jot it all down.
Step # 03: Carving Your Draft
Now that you have a rough draft, it’s time to shave and peel off all and any unnecessary words that might exceed the word count so that you have a total of 100-250 words. If you do not have an idea on how to shorten the text, here are a few things you can shave off:
- Technical terms that might take much space
- Quotations or sayings
- Any reference to the charts or any graphs
- Backstories that you don’t really need
Once you delete all these things, you will be left with a good short summary of your science fair project which will be fun and easy to read.
Top Five Sites for Free Science Art and Pictures
To make your science fair project abstract a bit more colourful and attractive, you can get professional images and photos, and that too, free of cost! Don’t know what sites we are talking about? Well, take a look at these repositories which have the most appropriate and adorable content which is so convenient to use:
PowerPoint Image Bank
There is no student who is a stranger to PowerPoint, specifically, if you are a science student. Chances are that you make most of your projects on this tool. Well, good news, your jobs just got easier with Servier which is a French pharmaceutical company dedicated to hosting a clipart collection related to science and that too, all free. The collection is named PowerPoint Image Bank and is available on their website. They have the most top-notch images which are ready to be downloaded and inserted in PowerPoint presentations.
Openclipart
As one of the largest free online clipart repository, Openclipart has more than 100,000 images that you can easily scroll to find which are so high-quality and specifically designed for science projects that you will be amazed! And what’s more! It is free and unlimited for commercial and also non-commercial materials.
clker
Similar to Openclipart in that it is also a free repository that has a large resource of suitable images, clker is definitely one of the best. It is so well-organized that you won’t have any difficulty searching for just the right kind of image. All the items on this site are free, unlimited and easily accessible, which makes it all the more worthwhile.
Freerange
This is yet another repository that has free photos which are of high quality. The best thing about this site is that all the photos are either from their in-house photographers, from volunteers or by a group of photographers which are voluntarily given. You can have full access to download and use them in your projects after registering to their website.
Saxifraga Foundation
To facilitate and propagate the conservation of biodiversity of Europe, a network of European nature photographers found Saxifraga Foundation which provides top-notch photos featuring European nature, and all of them free of cost! They can be downloaded on one condition and that is, that you give credit to the photographer and send an email to their foundation, describing the use of these photos. They also prohibit downloading for commercial purposes.
Sample of an Abstract for a Science Project
The objective of this science project is to study the correlation between muscle development and the amount of stress exerted on to the muscles during exercise. Being familiar and knowledgeable about the proper stress placement techniques on muscles will enable up & coming high school athletes to adopt the correct workout manners. The proposed hypothesis stated that exposing muscles to a three (3) second strain duration will result in optimal gain in muscle mass. In order to test the hypothesis, three high school seniors with same age, same height and same weight were selected and asked to perform a workout routine with different stress duration for one month. The body muscle-to-fat ratios were measured both before starting the workout routine and at the end of the one month time period. During the project, the daily workout time, diet plan and calorie intake was kept the same for each of the three subjects. At the end of the month’s duration, it was learnt that the subject who exposed his muscles to a 4 second strain period during the workout sessions registered the maximum gains in muscle mass. The study enables and equips aspiring high school athletes to rectify & modify their current workout practices to get the most out of their exercise routine & efforts.
