There is a danger of getting so involved in your science fair project that you do not realize how it looks to an outsider. This also happens when you get emotionally attached to all aspects of the project and do not know how to trim away what is actually superfluous to the project.

To avoid falling into this trap you should finish working on all the aspects of the project and then show it to someone who was not involved with it at all. Test the project on a novice to see what reaction the project generates from a thoroughly neutral source. Now you will learn what changes need to be made in the project.

Ask the person if they find all questions being suitably answered by the display board. Find out if there is any more information that you need to impart in your scripted speech or via the display board. Make them a questionnaire about all the aspects of the project and include a field where they can tell you a way in which it could be improved.

This exercise can be repeated with about three people so that you get a fair idea about how your science project gets received by people. Now that you have this data you can use it to improve the project. Make sure to use all practical suggestions that you find. Don’t worry if you can’t make drastic changes, they are probably not required anyway.