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What is a regional science fair?
A regional science fair consists of those science fair projects from area schools whose teachers
deem worthy of sending to advanced competition. Normally such projects have been entered in
a local science fair and have won an award. At a regional fair your students will have a full day
to collaborate and compete with like-minded young scientists from over a dozen South Dakota
counties. At the end of the day, more than 50 awards are presented not only by the fair but also
by local and national corporations. |
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Who may participate?
All young people from grades 6-12 may participate whether they are from public, private, or
home schools. |
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Who may proceed on to advanced competition?
Every year the regional fair selects two individual students and one group project from grades 9-
12 as grand prize winners. The students involved receive an all-expense-paid trip to the
Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. In addition, two alternate winners may travel to
the fair provided they find adequate funding for the trip. |
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How do I assure my students of entry into the South Central regional fair?
No fee or signing of affiliation papers is necessary; if your school has not attended the regional
fair before, you should call or write the fair director and indicate your intent to enter students in
this year's fair. The best date is before October 1st, 2008 so that
you may be sent the necessary rulebook in a timely manner. Read the rules on
line and fill out the necessary required forms; conduct your local science fair;
register your winners for the Regional Fair
by March 9th, 2009, and bring those students to the South Central Regional Fair starting at
8 a.m.
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Which pages should I turn to first? Three vital pages that should be copied and handed out to the students in the early fall to each student entering a local fair in the spring. These are: Student Checklist (1A), Research Plan, and Approval Form (1B). On the Student Checklist (1) only the beginning and ending dates on line 6 are to be left blank otherwise all boxes or lines must be completed. Once this is done, the student hands the form to the teacher for approval. The teacher must:
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What are the rules for project entry? Projects going on to regional competition must include a 250 word one-page abstract and all copies of the original paperwork mentioned above submitted to us by the March deadline. The abstract should include the purpose of the project, the procedures used, the data, and the conclusions. See the student handbook for an example.
The physical representation of the projects that are placed on display at regional competition
must not include: any plant, animal, or microbe whether living or dead, soil or waste samples,
chemicals including water, sharp items, flames, poisons and other controlled substances. |
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In a nutshell, what is the timeline? For a comprehensive listing of the timeline and all deadlines, please click here
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What are some helpful hints for winning?
Tell your students to begin with a good idea and take lots of striking photographs. Organize your
display so that it reads from left to right. This should include: the question that you are asking,
the experiment that will yield the answer, the results of the experiment (including any problems),
and your conclusions. Label your graphs so the judges will know exactly what you measured.
Use a word-processor and a spelling checker and be certain to ask someone else if they can
understand what you did, why you did it, and what you found out. |
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Any final advice? The Research Plans lie at the heart of the fair. Not only must they be filled out before the research begins, but they should also be submitted to the SRC to avoid embarrassing and potentially harmful experiments. We never know which projects may be selected by our Regional Fair Judges to go on to international competition, but we do know the pain of waiting by the telephone while an international body decides the fate of an award winner whose paperwork was not in order. Above all, we need forms that carefully spell out the research in question. Accidents do happen to children -- ones that we can anticipate if we know what the child is doing. Emphasize to your students that good, clear writing -- and lots of it -- is more than good manners. For us, it's essential. |
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Dakota Wesleyan University |
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