Science Fair: Research Paper

Where to start?  First, ask the standard questions: who, what, when, where, and why.  Let's look at one project on cell phone radiation.  The student must be well versed on the topic.  What is cell phone radiation?  What is an EMF?  How is it measured?  Why do cell phones emit radiation?  Do land lines emit radiation?  Do cell phones cause cancer?  Is there any research?  Do studies indicate cell phones do or do not cause cancer?  This part of the process is called the literature review.  As the students gleans information relevant to the topic, he or she becomes familiar with issues or the science related to his or her project.

Once the student has some background, this constitutes the first part of the research paper and becomes part of the introduction.  The introduction should include information about the topic?  What is cell phone radiation?  Is it harmful?  What do studies indicate?  The research paper does not have to be lengthy.  The introduction should be at least one paragraph with three to five sentences.  Ask your child to tell you about his or her project and then type up these answers.  Once the student has the thoughts written, it is time for revisions.  Unlike this blog, the paper should be written in the third person, present tense, and active voice.  For example, 'Cell phones emit radiation and the amount of radiation varies.'

Each section of the research paper should be written as paragraphs.  Students may title each paragraph.  See this example.
Materials:
The materials for this experiments include the following: an EMF detector, thirty different cell phones, a field notebook, and a pencil.

Procedures:
The first step in this experiment is to remove any case and to place the cell phone face down on a solid surface.  The next step is to measure EMFs from each cell phone with the detector both 'on' and 'off'.

These sections need not be long-just complete.  Often the entire paper is only two pages.  Judges do want to see the research paper.