

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

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 &#62; dissertation)<p>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.
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mechanical_fish
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.

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[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.

