6. Written Report

The Written Report is for competitive students only and consists of several parts.  As we work on them in class I will be updating this page with directions on how to complete them.


I.  Title Page
Students need to have a title that reflects their science project. This is not the problem. Type only the project title; Center the project title.  Do not type name or any other information on this paper. Students should include graphics, clip art, or pictures on the Title Page.

II.  Abstract (Note: this should be the last thing you do)
Can only be done when your experiment is complete. It gives a summary of the project in a brief, but thorough paragraph form.  This is a one page, 250-word maximum summary of the entire project that includes the components below.  Judges and the public should have a fairly accurate idea of the project after reading the abstract. It should summarize the purpose, procedure, results and conclusions of the student’s investigation; therefore, it is one of the last items done.  An abstract does not give details about the materials used unless it greatly influenced the procedure or had to be developed to do the investigation. An abstract should only include procedures done by the student.  Work done by someone else (scientist) must not be included. Place a copy of the abstract on the display board and in the written report binder.

Abstract Components:  (write in paragraphs)

1. Purpose: The statement that explains why the student is doing the experiment
2. Problem: The question telling what the student is trying to find out.
3. Hypothesis: An explanation of what prompted the student’s research, and what the student hopes to achieve, and what the student thinks the outcome might be (before doing the experiment).
4. Procedures: A brief summary of how the experiment was performed & the key points
5. Results: A brief description of the important results that lead directly to the student’s conclusion-do not give too many details or include tables or graphs of data.
6. Conclusions: A brief summary paragraph of why the experiment had those results and if your hypothesis was correct or incorrect.
7.Appplications:  A brief summary paragraph of how you think your results can be used by others and what you would differently in future experiments on this topic.

III.  Table of Contents
A list of where to find specific information in the student’s written report. Include page numbers (placed behind the Abstract summary).


IV. Experimental Design
Make this word the title page for this section which includes:  your purpose, problem, research (background information) hypothesis, subjects, variables, materials, and procedure, your charts and graphs and any summary you want to put in written form including conclusion, application, recommendation and interview summaries (if applicable) Each of the following items is on a separate page with its title.

Part I:  What is included in the Experimental Design?





Part II:  How do I put this information into Microsoft Word?


Part III:  How can I make a graph to display my data?

Link:  Create a Graph

V.  Acknowledgements
The student gives credit to anyone who has helped them during the project. It is not a list of names, but a short paragraph stating the names of people who helped the student, and how they helped.

VI.  Bibliography
Properly formatted list of all sources and reference materials the student has used. 



Link:  Citation Wizard

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