The Pennsylvania State University

English 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

Samuel J. Goldstein

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 the previous 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 a valuable 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.

July 6th, 2011