Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am participating in my regional science fair and this is my first time entering the competition. I have created a computer program to identify an illness based on imagery and I’m wondering what should I expect from the judges at the science fair? Are there specific questions I should expect? Or specific data I should be expected to have? Thanks anyone for the help

Hello Robinson,

Congratulations on participating in your first regional fair! That is exciting! It's great that you are thinking ahead to be prepared for the fair. The best place to find out what to expect and what is required of you will be the project guidelines and judging guidelines that are specific to your specific regional fair. You should also check with your science teacher or the teacher who is coordinating students from your school.

It is really good that you start now since there may well be some specific forms that you will be required to submit. There also may be specific formats and sizes for your display board.

Let us know if you have trouble finding the website for your fair, or have trouble finding the guidelines. Let us know how you do at the fair. Good luck!

Hi, I created a machine learning program to accurately identify skin lesions for my first regional science fair. I was researching other people’s science fair presentations and found that most tend to include a “procedure” section somewhere on their display board. I was wondering if you had any tips on how I could summarize over 20 pages of code to fit on one or two pages for my display board? Thank you for any help.

Hi RobinsonTeagan,
This sounds like a great project!
In regards to summarizing your code, I would suggest doing a state machine diagram.

Here's an example:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/co ... ne-diagram

Good Luck and please post again if you have any other questions.
Willey

Hello Robinson Teagan,

In addition to following Willey's excellent suggestion, you might also include the actual code in your lab book - but you should check the rules for your specific fair to make sure you know if you can have your lab book in your booth, and what is and what is not allowed in the lab book.

You might also consider including photos of the skin lesions that are part of your project. The ones that best illustrate your objective could be included in your display and any others that are descriptive could go in your lab book!

Science Buddies has several articles with loads of helpful suggestions about participating at science fairs:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... mpetitions

Good luck at the fair! Let us know how things go!

Madeline