An academic science and engineering fair poster is a summary of your research, scholarly, or creative project in a visually engaging way. It must be concise and academically sound, highlighting the context of your work, your methods, and results (with graphs, charts, photographs, etc.).

SELECTING A POSTER TEMPLATE

Review the Poster Templates below
Click on the template that you would like to use
Make a copy of the template
- Click on "File" --> Then Click "Make a copy" --> Name the file with your name & school (Example: Patricia_Morgan_FCHS) --> Click "OK"
The file will now open in a new window and can be edited by the student.
Now, share the file.
- Click on the blue "Share" button in the top right corner.
- Click on "Get shareable link"
- Under "People" Click the box and enter your teacher's name and Click "Can edit"
- Click the blue "Send" button
You and your teacher can now edit the poster.
Before coming to District's Science Fair, make sure that you open your Share Permissions and set it to "Anyone with the link can VIEW."

Click here to see step-by-step picture directions.

POSTER PRESENTATION TIPS

Your science and engineering fair poster should be able to stand on its own as a clear, concise, and logical presentation of your work, without any explanation from you.

After you've prepared your poster presentation, you should prepare an “elevator speech” – a one to two-minute summary of your research goals and summary that you could deliver to anyone during a typical elevator ride. Be sure to speak loudly enough to be heard, slow enough that you think your are speaking too slowly, and without fillers like “um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know,” and “okay.”

It helps to practice on your teacher, friends, and family first!

A GOOD POSTER:

Meets the guidelines for the science & engineering fair process
- You can NOT have images of other people WITHOUT signed media consent forms and you can NOT have logos on your board (i.e. products, brands, schools, universities, etc.)
Cites the source of every photo, graph, table, chart or other images
- Be sure to include this message under ALL charts and graphs - "All graphs and charts created by <<Insert First Name Last Name>>"
Focuses your message – what is the one thing you want people to remember about your project?
Conveys your message visually and passionately
Is readable from about 4 - 6 feet away
Is clearly organized

Poster content

Posters typically include many of the sections listed below:

Title
Name
Problem/Research questions
Materials
Approach, process, or methods
Data (with accompanying data charts, figures, etc.)
Results
Conclusion /Future directions (especially if this is a work in progress)

Poster design tips

Use large text (your text should be at least 18-24 pt; headings 30-60 pt; title >72pt.)
Do not use more than 2-3 font styles total
Use fonts that are easy to read (such as Times New Roman, Garamond, and Arial)
Avoid jagged edges: left-justify text within text boxes or fully justify blocks of text
Avoid too much text
Choose colors carefully and pay attention to contrast. If in doubt, dark print on light background is best. Remember – some colorblind people cannot distinguish between red and green.
Organize and align your content with columns, sections, headings, and blocks of text
White space is important to increase visual appeal and readability (this is the “empty” space between sections, columns, headings, blocks of text, and graphics).
Selectively incorporate charts, graphs, photographs, key quotations from primary sources, maps, and other graphics that support the theme of your poster. It is best to avoid using tables of data.
Avoid fuzzy images; make sure all graphics are high-resolution (at least 300ppi) and easily visible
Edit your poster carefully for typographic or grammatical mistakes and image quality before the final print-out (use the print-preview function)

Source: Northern Arizona University, https://nau.edu/undergraduate-research/poster-presentation-tips/

Click here for additional tips on poster presentations!