Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My daughter emailed the contest people with her question and is working on it now.

Hi janet_425,

First of all, congratulations to your daughter! I have direct experience with the middle school program that preceded the Broadcom MASTERS, and I've been on the awards committee of science fairs that nominate students to participate in the Broadcom MASTERS program. What is your daughter's question?

We were trying to figure out what to do about the one page PDF of project results. The instructions say, "all your data" -- and she used a database!

I think she's saving the PDF for last and working on the other stuff first. When she gets back to this, she's narrowed down her charts to the best 6 for the PDF. Is there a program you recommend for putting a PDF together?

Hi janet_425,

Using charts is a great way to present a bunch of data. People evaluating the applications know that graphs show your data in a visual way. So, I don't think you need to worry about trying to fit an entire database or long data table onto one page.

As far as making a PDF goes, versions of Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) from 2007 on an save documents as PDFs. It is one of the options in the "save as file type" drop down menu in the "save as" dialog. One option (which is something I do quite frequently) is to make the one page document as a PowerPoint slide or Word document and the save it as a PDF. I find that PowerPoint is better for pages where there are more figures, photos, etc. than long chunks of text. Other office suites, such as the freely available LibreOffice, can also save documents as PDFs. LibreOffice is just one of the freely available office suites. Another option is to use one of the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, In Design, or Acrobat) to make the one page. But, those programs are much more expensive and not as readily available.

Let me know if I can help with anything else!

She finished her application!

Is it customary for kids to revise/update their projects to prepare for this competition? I'm thinking she is better off spending her summer preparing for this year's science fair than revising last years', given that the odds of being selected seem kind of long.

Hi Janet_425,

I'm glad she finished her application! I would suggest turning your daughter's focus to a project for the coming school year.