Science Fair “Review of Literature” Guidelines

Science Fair “Review of Literature” Guidelines

• Your paper will receive a Project grade in Science.
• The Science Fair “Review of Literature” includes three parts: a title page, the paper, and a reference page.
• NO PLAGIARISM ALLOWED
• The use of the 1st person "I" or "We" should be avoided whenever possible
• You must use at least three different types of resources. Example: one Internet, one book, one encyclopedia.  Internet resources may come from .edu, .gov, or .org (with teacher approval) only.
• All three parts must be typed, double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 point type.
• Do not include pictures or graphics on any part of your title page, paper, or reference page.
• Remember to save all documents to your USB drive or I drive as a .doc document.
• Directions for the Review of Literature format are on the other side of this paper.
• Title Page should contain the following information centered on the page:

Title of Project

       by

Your Name

Grade Level

Grant Middle School

Fairview Heights, Illinois

• Reference Page – Resources should listed alphabetically on the page.  See Reference List examples page for explanation of how each type of resource should be typed out.

FORMAT FOR SCIENCE FAIR “REVIEW OF LITERATURE”

First Paragraph: Introduction

·         Tell what your science fair topic and purpose of experiment is going to be.

For example: The purpose of this science fair experiment was to discover which plant grows best under certain conditions. In order to better understand the experiment, research was done on the process of photosynthesis.

·         Tell what your three resources were for your research.

For example: Research sources included a magazine article from Science Today, a website produced by NASA, and a chapter from my science textbook.

·         Write a conclusion sentence that summarizes the most important fact that you learned from your research.

For example: The research led the reader to the basic conclusion that plants must have light in order to complete the process of photosynthesis.

Second Paragraph: First Source

·         Use the handout you filled out for your first source for the bibliographic information. Give the bibliographic information in sentence form.

For example: The first source reviewed was a book written by Travis Klein titled The Habitat of Rainbow Trout.

·         Use your notes to summarize the information you found from this source.

Remember that if you write any information word-for-word, you must put it in direct quotes. You should have at least three facts from each source!

·         End the paragraph with a concluding sentence that summarizes the information you got from this source.

Third Paragraph: Second Source

·         Follow the above process to write the information from your second source.

Fourth Paragraph: Third Source

·         Follow the above process to write the information from your third source.

Fifth Paragraph: Conclusion

·         Write a sentence or two that summarizes the overall facts and information you gathered from your research.

For example: Overall, the research indicated the importance of genetics in determining the eye color of children.

·         Explain a fact that you found surprising or interesting.

For example: One of the most interesting things learned in the research on starfish was the concept of regeneration. When a starfish loses an arm through an accident or disease, it will grow one back.

·         Explain how you think this information will affect your hypothesis.

For example: Knowing this information will affect the science fair project because the reader now knows that the controlled variable needs to be the same length of time in each testing situation.

·         Write a conclusion sentence that explains the value of doing this research of literature before continuing with your science fair project.

For example: Researching and reviewing these three sources gave the exhibitor a much better understanding of simple machines. This knowledge will help the exhibitor to complete a more successful science fair project.