Book excerpt: Uh-oh, now you’ve gone and done it, you volunteered to do a science fair project. Don’t sweat it, presenting at a science fair can be a lot of fun. Just remember, the science fair is for your benefit. It’s your chance to show that you understand the scientific method and how to apply it. Also, it’s an opportunity for you to delve more deeply into a topic you’re interested in. Quite a few scientists, including a few Nobel laureates, claim that they had their first major breakthrough while researching a science fair project. And besides, a good science fair project can open a lot of doors academically and professionally—but you already knew that. Stuck on what to do for your science project? This easy-to-follow guide is chock-full of more than 50 fun ideas and experiments in everything from astronomy to zoology. Your ultimate guide to creating crowd-pleasing displays, it shows you everything you need to know to: Choose the best project idea for you Make sure your project idea is safe, affordable, and doable Research, take notes, and organize your facts Write a clear informative research paper Design and execute your projects Ace the presentation and wow the judges Science fair guru Maxine Levaren gives walks you step-by-step through every phase of choosing, designing, assembling and presenting a blue ribbon science fair project. She gives you the inside scoop on what the judges are really looking for and coaches you on all the dos and don’ts of science fairs. And she arms you with in-depth coverage of more than 50 winning projects, including: Projects involving experiments in virtually every scientific disciplines Computer projects that develop programs to solve a particular problem or analyze system performance Engineering projects that design and build new devices or test existing devices to compare and analyze performance Research projects involving data collection and mathematical analysis of results Your complete guide to doing memorable science projects and having fun in the process, Science Fair Projects For Dummies is a science fair survival guide for budding scientists at every grade level.