English 202C

To: Professor Lee

From: Calvin Zimmerman
Subject: Rhetorical Analysis of Science Fair Booklet
Date: 1/24/2018

This memo is directed to address my analyzation of the EPA’s science fair booklet. The booklet,
titled Science Fair Fun was created to be used by both teachers and students in grades 6-8 in
the design of environmental projects. The packet teaches students how to set up an
experiment and how to conduct research with colorful animation throughout the booklet.

Knowing your reader:

The EPA was sure to denote the target audience of this packet. One of the key
characteristics of a strong technical document is the task of addressing a particular audience. In
this case, the EPA states on the second page a “note for teachers” and a “note for students”.
These two sections point out the two specific audiences they are trying to target. The “note for
teachers” section of the page states that the booklet will help students in grades 6 to 8 with
science fair projects; it is stating that the booklet will be a guide that teachers can use to help
students understand science fair projects. The section labeled “note for students” explains that
this booklet will help students design their own science fair project and learn more about
reducing, reusing, and recycling.
The EPA tailors this booklet to middle school students is with simple language, colorful
animations, and explanations. An example to support this would be the glossary page in the
back of booklet with definitions of basic environmental terms. This helps the young readers
understand the technical terms of environmental science. The booklet has many explanations
that would help a middle school student understand what they are reading. The start of the
booklet explains what the EPA is, most middle school students would need that explained to
them. As the student continues to read, there is a lesson on how to conduct a science fair
project beginning with creating a topic, how to conduct research, and what to do with their
findings. This technical document is very informational for young students but keeps the
wording simple so it is easy to read and understand.
When first opening the booklet to its contents, the first sentence says “science is fun”, I
think this makes it seem as if the reading will be interesting for students. If the booklet began
by diving into the specifics of a science fair project, the audience would be lost and disengaged.

The Production:
This booklet was solely produced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The booklet
does not credit its creator but could have been produced by different scientists in the EPA who
generated ideas for science fair projects and educators in the agency attempting to help explain
the science fair to students. Regardless of who wrote the booklet, on the Getting Started page,
the EPA explained who their agency was and what they specialize in. There is a bright orange
box that was used to even recite the agency’s specific goals of reducing, reusing, and recycling
(the three Rs). Their three goals were reflected in the sample projects provided as each of the
experiments used at least one of those three Rs in their methods.

Readability:
In an effort to increase readability, the textbook states that it is important to use sharp
typography, use color, and make sure spacing is correct. All three of these tools, along with the
use of images, can help keep a reader focused and interested. When targeting middle school
students, it is important to keep the reader’s attention as it may be tough for them to focus.
The EPA begins the booklet with the title “Science Fair Fun” in an appealing font. The
title is angled too, I think this is way of making the booklet look as if it will not be a strict
manual that the students will be reading. As the booklet continues, all titles use the same child-
like font. When reading the body of the booklet, the text is not tightly packed onto the pages
and doesn’t contain long paragraphs. There are short blurbs for the ideas of a science fair
project and small explanations about the steps of conducting scientific research for a science
fair project. These short paragraphs, spaced out, with easy to read fonts are more appealing to
the young readers in trying to keep them focused.
The use of bright orange throughout the booklet may help the reader as well. If the
booklet was written in all black and white, it would look dull and boring. Without color
throughout the piece, you may lose your audience. I would like to see more variation of color
though. As everything was orange it failed to pop out of the booklet later on in the body when
it was only in the subtitles of the project ideas. If there was for variation of color throughout
the booklet, it may contrast more with the white background or even the orange and stick out
more.
The use of images is very important for this technical document. Separating the text
throughout the booklet was needed to keep this article from becoming too overwhelming with
words and this would cause middle school readers to possibly lose interest. The images used
were simple, cartoon animations. There is an image for each of the project ideas, with a simple
picture regarding the title of the experiment. There are also strong graphics when explaining
the steps of how to conduct a science fair project; I believe these help the students understand
each step of the theme of each step. For example, the record observations paragraph of the
steps has a paper and clipboard with writing on it for the observations of the project. Just
reading the title and looking at the image can help the students understand what they need to
do.

Overall:
Overall I thought this booklet was well constructed. The EPA knew its target audience,
addressed them with bright colors, fun fonts, cartoon images, and plenty of spacing between
paragraphs. The one thing I would change would be to move the glossary to the front so
students know terms they will read inside the booklet and I would also like to see the booklet
explain more of the actual science fair presentation. The EPA explains how the students should
conduct and collect research but does not really explain how to write their project
presentations or make their poster boards.