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HOW TO GIVE A PJAS PROJECT PRESENTATION

The objective is to get an “A” in the physics class and to earn a First Place Award at the PJAS Region competition at California University of PA on your project. I expect you to do a great job!

Your project is not original research; but, is an experiment that you have researched, completed very well, and repeated several times. The problem is that the PJAS judges only know you and your work through what you tell them in your 5 – 10 minute presentation. Remember: you probably know more about your project than the judges. You must convey your knowledge to them.

How do you make yourself appear to be a top rate student in the 5 to 10 minutes that you have the floor?

Suggestions for a Great Presentation:

First: Stand up straight. Get rid of the chewing gum. Dress professionally. Learn how to use the overhead before the presentation. Do not read your presentation. You may have note cards; but, don’t stand there and read them.

The PJAS judges and their grading check list look for the following items.
  1. State your name, school, grade, and the number of years you have presented at PJAS. If you are a junior or senior and this is your first time go for the pity factor. At Cal U you are up against some students who started doing projects in the 7th grade.
  2. State the TITLE of your presentation.
  3. Discuss WHY you selected your project. e.g. “I decided to study human horsepower because I live on a farm and I am interested in machinery.”
  4. Discuss what PROBLEM you are trying to solve with your project.
  5. State your HYPOTHESES.
  6. Discuss the literature BACKGROUND of your project. You should spend only about two to three minutes on the background. You presentation is not a library research project. If you are studying laundry products, what did Consumer Reports have to say about them?
  7. You must display a firm understanding of the basic scientific principles involved in your experiment. Thus, if you are measuring pH you should be able to explain in detail what the pH scale is, how it is calculated, and what the pH scale means should you be asked.
  8. As you discuss TERMS in your presentation explain them. For example, Newton – the unit of force in the metric system named after an English Physicist who developed the laws of motion.
  9. Explain in detail your EXPERIMENTAL set up and the equipment you used. Overheads are very good to do this quickly and clearly. If you are using data collection software give complete credit to the company. e.g. “Vernier Logger Pro temperature software.” Do not say, “Some software my teacher gave me.”
  10. If you used some original material or methods in your project be sure to discuss them. e.g. “I used Chip Clips to hold the material while testing its tensile strength.”
  11. Show all the DATA you collected on overheads. Remember, you need to do at least three trials and then average the results. Everything MUST be in METRIC. Using pounds, inches, miles, Fahrenheit, etc will ensure that you do not get a first award at Cal U or an “A” in the your class. Also remember that kilograms are for mass and Newtons are for weight and the terms are not interchangeable.
  12. Show on overheads any equations you used and example CALCULATIONS. Explain the terms in the equations
  13. Show in detail how your data was used to arrive at you CONCLUSIONS. Plots, line graphs, and bar graphs show this very well. Show that your conclusions are valid from the data you obtained.
  14. Restate your HYPOTHESES and explain why it was correct or incorrect according to your data and results.
  15. Suggest areas where you may have made ERRORS in your experiment or areas where your experiment could not explain the results. Math errors are not an experimental error.
  16. Suggest areas for FUTURE RESEARCH.
  17. Conclude the presentation and ask for QUESTIONS.
  18. Remember the maximum time is ten (10) minutes for your presentation.
Other Notes:

At Cal U the PJAS judges may ask you questions for only five (5) minutes. If you do not know the answer, say so. Do not try to bluff your way through. How well you answer the questions affects your score.

Get your teacher to make any overheads that you need. Set up your presentation on Power Point and print it out in black and white. You can make the overheads in color if you have a color printer.

Otherwise, all other material must be printed or written in black ink on white paper. No notebook paper, colored markers or pencil are to be used. The material should not be larger than 7½” x 10” in size. Leave at least a 1” margin around an 8½” x 11” sheet of paper.

Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, and practice before the Cal U presentation.

Practice at school, after school, and at home. Your presentation is judged against a set of PJAS judging standards. However, the judges are also comparing your talk to the other students in your PJAS unit. And, if they are much better then you, your score will suffer. Remember, we want to take you to Penn State in May. Do your best!



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2010

Oct. 16th:
Sponsor Meeting

Dec. 14th:
School & Student Registation forms due

Jan. 7th:
All Student and School Fees are due. (Must be school issued checks)

Feb. 18th:
Pick up your materials 6pm in LRC, in the judging room. A light supper will be served.

Feb. 20th:
Regional Meeting (Regional Schedule of Events

March 13th:
Housing Forms are due

May 5th:
State fee must be paid to the region(Must be school issued checks)

May 16th-18th:
State meeting at Penn State University
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