Science Fair Projects - Research Projects

Research Projects: Researching your science fair project topic is the second step in completing a science fair project. After you have chosen a topic, you must become a detective seeking to uncover all the information you can about your topic.

Research Your Science Fair Project

Researching your science fair project involves finding out everything you can about the scientific principles involved with it. There are several resources available for researching your science fair project. Some of these include your local library, science books and magazines, Internet science news sources, and teachers or educators. The most helpful thing that you can do when researching your project is to take excellent notes for your research project.

Research Projects: Note Taking Tips

*Notes are an essential part of doing a science fair project. To keep track of your research, bring a notebook with you when you visit your local library. Record references for the books and other materials you have used in your research.
  • Keep complete and accurate notes about the books and articles you find, such as:

    Author(s)
    Title
    Source for journals: Journal Title, volume, issue, date and pages of the article
    Source for books: Publisher, place of publication, date and number of pages in the book
    Title of a conference/symposium, the place and date(s)

  • Take notes on simple experiments on which to base your experiment.

  • Keep notes on diagrams used in similar experiments.

  • Record observations from other experiments.

  • Keep notes on samples of logs and other means for collecting data.

  • Make lists of materials that you might want to order and their suppliers.

Research Projects - Summary

In summary, remember to take notes on everything you have read and done in your scientific research. Use every available resource for your research project. This includes your local library, science books, and teachers. Another good resource to use as a research project and science fair project guide is Science Fair Projects Made Easy. It includes helpful tips for researching your science project and is available for electronic download.

Once you've completed your research, the next step is designing your science fair project experiment.

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*Information in public domain: "National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture."