Project Notebook Every scientist worth his salt keeps detailed notes on
each project on which he works. You should do likewise. This notebook,
which could as well be a set of file cards, contains a running,
day-by-day account of everything that concerns the project—observations,
speculations, experiments, materials, expenses, procedures, data and
observations, hypotheses, checks for validity, conclusions, and
conjectures. From such notebooks comes the information for the
scientist’s formal report, or “paper”, by which he advises his employers
and colleagues of the progress of his work.
Since the notebook contains everything pertaining to your project, it
may become disarranged, no matter how well you organize it in the
beginning. If so, don’t worry—just keep it up to date.
Project Report But there should be nothing haphazard about the final
report on your project. In some science fairs, this report is displayed
in the exhibit and considered in the judging. Even where not required,
the project report belongs with your exhibit.
After writing your report you will find that much of your exhibit
planning—and even some of the text which will appear in your exhibit—is
already accomplished.
If you are doing your project as a classroom assignment, your teacher
may specify the manner in which your report is to be organized.
Otherwise, you can follow a format such as this:
1. TITLE. Keep it short. If accuracy requires more than a few words,
consider using a very brief main title and a more definitive subtitle.
2. ABSTRACT. This is a very brief condensation of the entire report
summarizing the objectives of the project, what you did, and the
conclusions you came to.
3. INTRODUCTION. Describe your topic and give some background
information such as relevant work done by others. Summarize your
purpose, scope, and method of investigation. State the questions or
hypotheses your examined. Include the most significant findings of
your investigations.
4. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Describe in detail the materials, equipment,
methods, experiments, controls, unforeseen difficulties and remedies.
5. OBSERVATIONS AND DATA. Describe your observations. Include some of
your observational data here as an example. You may wish to put the
bulk of it in an appendix.
6. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS. Give the main conclusions your observations
tend to prove or deny. (Disproval of your initial hypothesis may be as
important as proof of it!) Include the evidence developed for each
main conclusion and any exceptions, or for opposing theories. Offer
possible explanations. Compare your results and interpretations with
those of other workers in the same field.