Think like a judge.

The judges at your science fair will fill out a score sheet for every entry. You will probably be told ahead of time what they are judging. Every fair has a different judging system. But all judges consider the same general areas:

Scientific knowledge

What did you learn?
Did you follow the scientific method?
Was your experiment suitable to test your hypothesis?
Did you do enough testing to know your conclusion is right?
Did you double-check your results?

Creative thinking

Is your topic unusual? Or, did you find a new approach to an old problem? A creative topic is important. You don't want to do the same experiment as a dozen other kids. You want to try to do something not many students have tried. That will make your entry stand out. Also, it will be more fun to find out the answer.

Independence

Did you do most of the work yourself? Most kids get advice and a little other help, but this is your project, and you should do the work yourself. Judges can tell if you have had too much help, and it will hurt your score.

Paperwork

Your activity log or journal, your data and your report are part of your display. The information should be complete and well organized. If you used references (books or the Internet), be sure to credit your sources.

The display

Is it clear and easy to understand? Is it complete? Did you take care in creating it? Is it well-designed and attractive? Is it fun to look at? Good science deserves a good-looking display.

Oral presentation

At some science fairs, you will be asked to present what you learned to the judges. It should be a short version of your entire project. You should practice your presentation by making it to friends and family. That way, you won't be nervous. The judges might ask questions. Since you did all the work yourself, you will know the answers.

Interview

At some science fairs, the judges will ask you questions. This is called an interview. The judges aren't trying to trick you. They are trying to find out what you learned. So they will ask you questions that make you think. They might ask you what would happen if you changed part of your experiment. You don't know the answer for sure. But based on what you have learned, you have an idea (a hypothesis). And you can explain why.