Writing the Abstract

Students

After finishing research and experimentation, you will write a (maximum) 250-word abstract. It will summarize your project that let the reader know what you did, why you did it, the most important results and your interpretation of those results. It helps the reader pre-judge your project and decide whether you've done something exciting and interesting.

An abstract should include one or two VERY BRIEF sentences about each of the following:

Background behind the experiment - from your research, what do people already know about your topic?
Purpose of experiment - what was it about your research that lead you to ask this particular question?
Procedures - a very basic explanation of what you actually did.
Data - what was your most important or interesting result?
Discussion / Conclusions based on your data.
Any possible research application - how does your information apply to the real world?

and must not include:

Acknowledgements
Work done by a mentor
Procedures done by a mentor.

Special Notes

Your abstract must be written on the International Science Fair Abstract Form.
This form is required for all projects in the State of Florida that participate in Science Fair.
Other than your name, school, and the town in which your school is located, please do not put any other personal information on your abstract.

Continuing Projects

If your project is a continuing project, only minimal reference to previous work may be included.
The abstract should focus on work done since the last fair.

Sample Abstracts

To see examples of abstracts that follow the proper format and are well written to give all the information a reader might need to pre-evaluate a project, click on the following links: