Since you will necessarily spend considerable thought, time, physical
effort, and (sometimes) money on your project, pick a topic from which
you can expect to learn something. If you can avoid the temptation to
pick one with which you are already familiar, you will probably get more
out of it. Your project should be an adventure, not merely a drill!
On the other hand your science project need not be in utterly unexplored
areas; to be successful you need not come up with data and conclusions
which will confound professional scientists who have spent their lives
in similar work. You are a student and a hobbyist, not yet a
professional research scientist. Primarily your project should advance
your personal knowledge, and your abilities to observe, speculate,
hypothesize, experiment, deduce, and conclude.
You should choose a project which you can expect to follow to a
successful conclusion, but which is enough above your current knowledge
to make you “stretch” your abilities.
But it is important not to bite off more than you can chew. The project
should not demand so much time that you neglect other responsibilities.
However, you need not pass up an interesting topic because covering all
of it would consume too much time. Instead, zero in on just those
aspects which interest you most.
[Illustration: _Sophomore Eileen O’Brien of New Dorp High School,
Staten Island, New York, displayed this nuclear-related exhibit at
the 13th NSFI at Seattle in 1962, but did not win any AEC
recognition._]
[Illustration: _At the 14th NSFI at Albuquerque in 1963, junior
Eileen O’Brien returned with a new and better exhibit of a related
but more advanced project..._]
[Illustration: _... and found herself an AEC Special Awards winner
invited, with her science teacher, to spend a week at Argonne
National Laboratory._]
[Illustration: _At the 15th NSFI at Baltimore in 1964, senior Eileen
O’Brien qualified again as an AEC Special Awards winner by
exhibiting a more advanced project, but one still related to her
earlier ones._
Courtesy Science Service]
You may be able to select a project which will be of continuing interest
in later years. For example, a 9th-grade general-science student might
begin by making an _overall survey_ of a topic to discover what is
already known about it and what remains to be discovered. As a
10th-grade biology student, he might investigate _biological_ aspects of
his topic, and then follow with investigations of _chemical_ and
_physical_ aspects of it while studying 11th grade chemistry and 12th
grade physics. Some outstanding science fair exhibits have resulted from
such progressive development of a single project which the exhibitors
undertook first in junior high school.
Whenever you ask a question about some aspect of nature you have a
possible project topic. “How does a chicken hatch?” “What is the best
way to treat a burn?” “How could nuclear energy be used in space
travel?” You need only examine the questions that occur to you every day
to find dozens of topics on which to base projects.
You might identify promising topics by reviewing the table of contents
in your science text, noting chapters or topics of particular interest.
Or you may find it helpful to consult the references listed in the
appendix to this booklet. If you are interested in a project related to
atomic energy, the appendix lists also many nuclear topics and research
areas.
It is probably wise to select several potential project topics, do a
little reading on each of them, and then pick one. Before reaching a
decision, discuss them with your teachers and parents. Your science
teacher can help you pick a topic that will relate closely to classroom
work, and may be able to suggest interesting approaches you haven’t
considered. By talking your project topic over with your parents and
advisers you can make sure that you will have the time, working space,
moral support, and financial resources needed to complete it
successfully.
[Illustration: _After failing as sophomores to qualify for AEC
Special Awards at Seattle, both these Texans came back as juniors to
win at Albuquerque with better exhibits of similar, but more refined
projects. James L. Ash (below) is from Dallas, and Michael A.
Haralson (above) is from Abilene._]
[Illustration: James L. Ash]
At the outset, the exhibit possibilities of your chosen project may not
be clearly apparent. You cannot predict exactly what procedures you will
follow nor what conclusions you will draw. As you proceed, you will
probably uncover many facts which you will want to tell people about. If
you choose a good topic, work carefully and accurately, and cover the
topic fully, you will produce a successful project which can form the
basis for a good exhibit.