Ask HN: Any help with ideas for the college science fair?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1069012

by ambiate • 17 years ago

1 1 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I've been reading HN for 2 years now and finally decided to hit the login button. I have one month to prepare for the science fair. I'm a bioinformatics major. Though, I'm not quite sure how to present a comp sci project in a science fair. (re: science fair project > dissertation)

Any links or ideas to get the creative juices flowing would be excellent. Most of the resources I found online were middle school or high school based.

mechanical_fish• 17 years ago

You're in college now, so it's time to get serious. I'd treat your "science fair" like its grad-school and postgraduate equivalent: The "poster session".

Which is to say: You can probably go far by reading a page like this one:

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm

Definitely not for middle school students. You're in the big leagues now! Unfortunately, you may not cease to feel like a dressed-up middle schooler on parade until after you get tenure, if then. ;)

Don't worry about the fact that your project is highly abstract. Almost any science project which is not a toy is highly abstract. [1] But do try to bring it down to earth. Pretend that you're trying to explain the project to the average HN reader's parents -- probably generally smart, but probably barely know what "bioinformatics" means and may not even use the computer that much.

---

[1] If you can explain your science project completely to a kindergartener and it is not a toy, you've got it made, because the grant money is going to fly in.

Ask HN: Any help with ideas for the college science fair?

Related Stories