How to Write an Abstract for a Science Project
Many science projects require you to write an abstract, or overview of your experiment. An abstract is normally brief (less than 250 words, depending on your school) and is the first part of your project that will be read, so it should be well-written and accurate.
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Instructions
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Science Project Abstract Steps
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1
State the "Introduction" or "Purpose" to your abstract by explaining the origins of your experiment. Include why you were curious to find out the result of the project and why the judge reading your abstract should also care. Use active language, but also be plain in what you say.
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2
Write the "Problem Statement," which tells judges what you set out to solve. A good problem statement iterates a question as simply as possible, for example, "What affect does regular consumption of caffeine, in the form of coffee, soda or tea, have on the resting heart rate of humans?"
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3
Explain the "Hypothesis," which is a sentence about what you thought the outcome of your experiment would be. For example, "I believe that when at least 80mg of caffeine, in the form of coffee, soda or tea, are consumed daily, the resting heart rate of a human will increase."
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4
Outline your "Procedures" section, which tells how you investigated your problem statement. Mention the materials used and any variables, but do not get too detailed (remember your word count is limited). A good example is "Using a test group of 10 healthy adolescents, I first tested their resting heart rate over a period of seven days. On the eighth day, five of the 10 volunteers began consuming exactly 80mg of caffeine each day for 14 days. After two weeks, I tested all 10 people's resting heart rates again over seven days."
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5
Write the "Results." Indicate what the outcome was of your experiment with detailed facts and figures. An effective results statement is not vague. For example, "I found that the resting heart rate of our sample group increased an average of 1.3 beats per minute after consuming 80mg of caffeine every 24 hours for 14 days."
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6
Compose the "Conclusions." Discuss your results and the implications for the field of science that you experimented with. In this section, state why your hypothesis was correct or incorrect.
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