For those of you getting an early start on your science fair project—or at least thinking about it, or thinking about thinking about it (you know where this is going!), here is Science Project Hint #3: Building on the Shoulders of Giants. This is a well-known phrase in scientific circles.  It refers to scientific research and the fact that no scientist can ever do it all alone. He or she has to rely on the work of scientists that came before and scientific discoveries made in the past. Centuries of scientific research were completed before the scientists of today were born. Without this research, today’s scientists would have nothing to build on. For example, if Isaac Newton hadn’t thought up the concept of gravity, astronomers today could not measure the gravitational pull of black holes.

What does all this have to do with you and your science fair project? In order to complete your project successfully, you need to do some background research and write a report about your subject. In other words, you need to build your project so that it stands on the knowledge provided by other scientists…the shoulders of giants! This will give your project a great foundation. Not to mention it will help you know your subject well. So well in fact that if a judge asks you a question, you will be able to come up with a great answer. (Nope, “Ummmmm…” is not a great answer!) Even if your experiment doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped or you didn’t get the results you expected, don’t worry. With great research to back you up, you will still have a top-notch project!

You’ll find lots of other tips on how to complete an awesome science fair project in the front introductory material provided in every JSP booklet. Creating a hypothesis, doing research, completing your experiment, keeping a journal, writing a report, designing a display…we’ve got you covered. So be sure to check it out!