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Write a research brief for a science fair project
- For High school students
- You practice Setting limits and rules
- Time about 5 minutes
About this exercise
You're using a deep-research tool for your science fair project on bee populations in Larch County, and your teacher only allows government, university or museum sources from 2018 on, never pesticide company sites. Write the brief as exactly 5 numbered lines labeled Question:, Place:, Sources:, Avoid: and Output:, where Output: asks for exactly 5 numbered facts, each with the source name and year. Plain text, under 140 words.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Asking the tool to do the project. The AI writes facts about bees from memory instead of instructions for the research tool. Try: Say: "Write a brief for a research tool, not the research."
- Leaving out your teacher's rules. Research tools will happily cite the pesticide company page and old news. Try: Add: "Only government, university or museum sources from 2018 on."
- Not saying what to hand back. The tool writes an essay you can't fit on a board. Try: Add: "Output: exactly 5 numbered facts, each with source name and year."
- Long or formatted output. AI adds bold headings and extra sections. Try: Add: "Exactly 5 numbered lines, each under 20 words, plain text."
What a strong prompt includes
- Asks for a brief
- Gives the source rules
- Says what to avoid
- Sets the output
- Asks for plain text
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