Safety
General advice on displaying your project
Make sure that all lines and edges are straight. Crooked displays give the judges an
impression of sloppiness. A good scientist should never be sloppy!
- Lay your letters on the display board first to see how it looks before sticking
them on. Make sure that your letters are displayed in a straight line. You
should use a ruler and draw a straight line first as a guide before you stick
the letters on. Make sure that the bottom of each letter lines up properly
against the rest.
- Use a large font for the project title and a smaller font for each of the headings.
For the headings, you can also use a different color from the rest of your
text. However, you should not use too many colors as this might distracted the
judges. Most of the ordinary text should be black in color.
- Place all typed material on a colored backing such as construction paper. Make sure
that there is a border of at least an inch all around.
- Make sure that your wiring and electrical connections comply with all safety
standards. Get help from an adult for this.
- Pack a kit of stationery comprising of colored pencils, markers, erasers, felt pens,
glue, tape, paint etc - basically anything that you may need to do last minute
touch ups to your project display.
- Cover the table with a clean colored cloth before putting up your display. Choose a
color that matches the color scheme of the display board. This will enable your
project to stand out from other projects displayed next to it.
You should obtain a copy of the safety rules
before you begin to think about your display. The safety rules will advise you
as to the list of materials that are prohibited and are unacceptable for
display.
You should also make sure that your project
topic is approved by your teacher even before you start work on the project.
Generally, what is unacceptable for display
are live animals, microbial cultures or fungi, animal or human parts except for
teeth, hair, nails and dried animal bones, all liquids, chemicals, open or
concealed flames, batteries with open top cells, combustible materials, aerosol
cans of household solvents, controlled substances, any hazardous material,
sharp items such as knives, needles and syringes, gases. Although the display
rules for every science fair may be a little different, the following checklist
will help make sure that your display is acceptable and pleases the judges.
Science Project Guide: Table of Contents
