Keeping it Simple

Ask specific questions about preparing for a science fair, such as: judging, how to set up your display board, preparing a presentation, preparing for questions...

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methionine
Posts: 75
Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:48 am
Occupation: Student
Project Question: Fox-1 and Fox-2 in Cassette Exon Inclusion and Exclusion
Project Due Date: April 9
Project Status: I am finished with my experiment and analyzing the data

Keeping it Simple

Post by methionine »

Hi all,
I understand that at a science fair, all you really get is several minutes to present your work in a short, concise speech, and that judges can ask questions along the way or after the presentation. Might you be able to give me some suggestions on what I should and shouldn't go into (without being asked, I mean)? I want to let the judges know that I am well-versed in my research topic, but I also do not want them to think that I have spent too much time on superfluous information...

If it helps at all, my research topic is about the effect of intron length on gene expression levels. I artificially altered the length of a gene that was fused to a reporter gene with recombinant DNA methods, and then used that same reporter gene to measure gene expression levels. I used yeast as my model organism.
Thank you for your help!

-M
People do not see the world as it is, they see it as they are.
tdaly
Former Expert
Posts: 1415
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2003 11:27 pm
Occupation: Planetary Scientist
Project Question: N/A
Project Due Date: N/A
Project Status: Not applicable

Post by tdaly »

methoionine,

Without having a detailed knowledge of your project, it is very difficult to tell you what to say or not to say. Let me provide some general advice: You are trying to tell as story with your project. Your presentation should therefore, have a beginning, midddle, and end. Just like an essay, you should start your presentation off with a "hook," something that will get the judges attention. Then tell the judges what you did, how you did it, why you did it, and what you found out. Lastly, conclude with a summary of what you, what you found out, and why it is important. One of the worst things to have happen is to have a judge walk away from your project thinking "So what? Why the heck do I care about ____?" Moral of the story: Make your beginning interesting, and your ending memorable. Judges will remember more about the beginning and end of your presentation than they will about the middle.

Let me know if I can be of any more help,
All the best,
Terik
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