Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I read the engineering projects tips & have a good idea of what to do on the research paper but can't find a display example. I am kind of using the order listed in "Overview of the Engineering Process". I put Define a Need & Engineering Goal under INTRODUCTION. Under BACKGROUND RESEARCH i think some science & technology info is more interesting for the display.

Has anyone put "target use or customer" & "what already exists" on the display?

I started w Mixing Colors w 3 LEDs project (it is still only off or on) but put it in small plastic storage box, redesigned another & a 3rd into a lamp. I read that judges like charts & grafts. I tried different color mixes w different projecton distances, different translucent objects. I wrote down the results trying to describe color, variation or blend & intensity. some combinations were hard to describe. I'm not sure a table with all the written descriptions would be clear. It is fun to change the knobsbut I can not figure a way to put all the variables in a chart or graph!

Any suggestionsfor testing data & turning into graphics for this project?

Last year I tried to fit my engineering project to the scientific method & had a testable product.

Hi Wade4Green,

If you have room on your board, "target use" and "what already exists" (I'd call it Existing Products or Prior Research) is something you should have. If you can't fit it, you'll need to still know it when you talk to the judges (and have it in your written report).

The format of the board should be similar to a science fair project, you will just need to replace certain items with their engineering equivalent. It sounds like you've already done this. Here are my suggested titles:

Abstract (same as for science fair project)
Purpose
Background Research
Design Criteria
Prototype
Testing
Redesign
Results

Remember that people read from top to bottom for each part of the board, and then from left to right overall. So for example, your abstract and purpose could be on the top left, and your results would be on the bottom right. That's the general "flow" of a display board.

As for measuring your results, you could create some sort of scale from 1 to 5 and then put the description of the scale near your graphs. This would work best with bar graphs. You could also do a table with pictures and a simple diagram of which LEDs were on or off. This would be easier than describing with words.

Or, if you have time, you can take a look at this project idea, which would give you a way to measure everything quantitatively: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... p037.shtml

I'm going to put your topic in the physical science forum so that our experts can better help you. Good luck!