Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello so I am a senior researcher who recently won first place in my regional fair and will be competing in early april at the state fair for a chance to earn a bid to go to Isef and was wondering on where I should start in my preparation for the event.

my teachers have advised I start modifying my speech and my poster and have no idea what sources I should use to create new charts and graphs that are more precise and detailed as well as the overall look of the poster and position of items on it

I have also been told that I should seek council and mentorship from someone to gain a better overall understanding on my presentation and detail and don't know where to look for a mentor who is specified in molecular and cellular Biology of Breast cancer cells.

Hello Jesse,

Congratulations on your project advancing to the state fair! That's exciting!

I've cross-posted your post to the Grades 9-12 Life Sciences forum so experts there who can help you with the molecular and cellular Biology of Breast cancer cells.

I'm not an expert in molecular and cellular biology, but I've judged at science fairs at the state and at ISEF, so I'll offer my suggestions for your questions about modifying your talk and poster in anticipation of going to ISEF! I suggest that you look carefully at the detailed information for project displays for ISEF 2023, starting with this link (but don't stop there!):

https://sspcdn.blob.core.windows.net/fi ... elines.pdf

While this is useful for ISEF, you need to find the guidelines/requirements for your state fair for your talk and poster (slides and/or poster board) and possibly a video. Some state science fair guidelines match the ISEF guidelines, but you need to make sure to follow the state guidelines first!

Regarding a mentor, you might find the info at these Science Buddies links useful:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tem-mentor

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... t-research

In the meantime, hopefully experts here in cellular and molecular biology will also respond to your post!

Best of luck preparing for the state fair and, hopefully, ISEF! Please reach out if you have more questions about preparing your graphs and slides.

Madeline

Hi Jesse - Congratulations on moving on to the state fair!

In addition to the great suggestions Madeline provided, there are some additional resources on this page that might be helpful:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... mpetitions

That contains links to resources about data analysis, data presentation, and several resources on preparing for an advanced science fair. These might all be helpful as you work on changes to your board and presentation for the state fair.

Our Experts here in the forums only help in this online space. If you have more specific questions about your presentation, you are welcome to post here, and someone may be able to help. (Or if you received specific input from your teacher or judges and are trying to make changes to the display board based on that.) But for finding a mentor who may be able to work with you outside of this space, the links provided for the "Finding a Mentor" resource is the place to start. I would suggest though that finding a mentor of the sort described is typically beginning at a different point in the process.... not just at the presentation step.

Amy
Science Buddies