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The Pennsylvania State UniversityEnglish 202C

Memo

To: Josh Smith - Professor

From: Samuel J. Goldstein Accelerated Pre-Medical / Medical Student

Subject: Evaluation and Analysis of US EPA guide for designing science fair projects

Date: July 5th, 2011

The purpose of this document is to critique the United States Environmental Protection Agencys

booklet titled Science Fair Fun. This booklet describes entry-level science projects that are

suitable for entertainment and learning purposes of middle school students specifically.

Considering the fact that this is a government document, elevated expectations of conciseness,

clarity, and impact on the reader are expected. Design, content, usability, and effectiveness are

essential characteristics of truly valuable pamphlets.

At First Glance:

When a middle school student, aged 11-14, first sees a booklet, the initial decision of whether or

not to open and explore is made superficially. The saying, dont judge a book by its cover is

disregarded and design features are overly influential. Regarding this specific document, the

cover page includes the expected government logo, which establishes ethos, along with a bright

orange background covered with animated images, such as a shovel, scale, and a ruler. These

images are used to captivate the young reader and convince him or her to read on. Intrigued by

the images, the student opens the booklet and is then greeted with a copious amount of orange

pages covered with more animated science-like images including calculators, trash bags, and

graphs which give off a childish vibe. The sophomoric scene portrayed by the vibrant pages and

non-real images may deter and offend some of the audience.

Critique of Appearance:

While students are in middle school, they feel as if they are coming of age and expect a certain

level of respect. As previously stated, the excessive use of the color orange and animated images

can make a middle school student feel as if he or she is being spoken down upon. The designers

used orange because it is a bright and inviting color, but the reasoning is easily mistaken. Using a

more a professional style with a white background and a clear font, along with real images that

are not merely animations would give the booklet a more mature character. A student would take

this project more seriously and would design a higher-level project than he or she would after

viewing a bright orange instruction manual because he or she would feel more adult-like and

intelligent.

Content:

On the first page inside the cover, there is a note for teachers and a note for students; this can

confuse the reader as to who the booklet is designed for. Continuing on, there is a table of

contents that can direct the reader to specific passages describing different science projects or to

the glossary of vocabulary words. The glossary is useful in helping students learn new science

words that can be used in their presentations. The next page shows a picture of a checklist with

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nothing written on it, which serves little to no purpose as a visual device. Following this wasted

page is a user manual, which explains how to use the booklet and what the goals of the EPA are;

to conserve, to reduce, and to ensure certain environmental topics. This is the first instructional

page and sets the tone for the rest of the booklet. Further, steps to conducting a science project

and various different project ideas are discussed in detail. As the booklet nears its end, a glossary

of science words above the middle school vocabulary level are defined and resources to theprevious information are cited.

Critique of Content:The purpose of the booklet is to provide middle school students with information about how to

perform certain science procedures and display the findings at a science fair. The first page of the

guide, which addresses both students and teachers, should be focused only on the students

because they are the main audience. The sequence of the content inside the booklet is first

showing steps to performing a project such as forming a hypothesis, finding data, organizing data,

making charts, and then preparing a presentation. Then there is an explanation of different basic

projects about composting and recycled materials. This is an ideal sequence, besides the fact that

the steps to creating the actual presentation lack much detail. The hardest part of producing avaluable project is deciding how to display information for viewing by a large group of people.

The booklet hints at the idea of making a three-sided poster, but this is not nearly enough

information for the student. Tips such as taking pictures of the steps of the procedure for

presentation, displaying materials used during the project, and making a professional, science

oriented poster or diorama need to be included. Images of projects made in the past or that could

be created would stimulate the students minds and give them ideas of what they are actually

assigned to do. The page that shows a blank clipboard could be used to fill in information about

how to actually create a project or it could show an image of a previously completed, real life

experiment. The vacuity of the description of the project leaves the student misguided in the

endeavor.

Extensiveness:

This booklet provides a large amount of information in a small amount of space. On the broad

topic of science fair projects, everything is explained from how to conduct an experiment,

different examples of possible experiments, to how to present the findings. The main flaw in the

document is the lack of information on the topic of what supplies the student needs to compile

and present his or her work. While the booklet gives various examples of science projects, it does

not give specific details about how to actually conduct the experiment. For a middle school

student, it is very hard to actually plan out and perform an experiment without very precise

instructions. This may be done on purpose to challenge the mind of the student, but it is not an

effective tool for students of middle school age and intelligence.

Recap:

The initial sight of the booklet is bright, orange, and childish. This was done to create an inviting

atmosphere for the student, but is easily mistaken as being demeaning. The content itself is

thorough in detailing information about different science experiments, but it lacks specific steps

noting how to actually conduct the experiment and how to present the findings. The booklet is

extensive and is very usable, but the above critiques could be used to create the perfect booklet

about science fair projects.