Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District Science Fair
General Rules: Science experiments/projects and their display are to be designed and carried out by the student entering the Science Fair. The project idea and its execution should belong to the student, though students may seek advice as they research their project. Teachers and parents should encourage students to complete their project and to reinforce their positive efforts. (Ex: Parents may cut boards, etc., working according to students' specifications and ideas.) Students will be responsible for setting up their exhibit on the day of the fair.
Students may begin as soon as their projects are approved by their teachers. Approval is also needed to change projects. Projects must meet all requirements in order to be eligible for entry.
A Science Project Worksheet is required with the project. No school or last names should appear anywhere on this form - You will be assigned a number. The judges will use that number for recording their score.
Projects must fit on a 3x3 card table (which the students will be required to bring to the fair) or into a space 3x3. Measure out your display! No exceptions will be allowed. If your display is larger than this, it will be disqualified.
Projects should be self explanatory. No commercial kits are allowed.
Do nothing that will hurt yourself or others or the environment. Safety must be considered in every phase of the project. no use of potentially dangerous chemicals, techniques etc. No live vertebrate animals are allowed though data can be collected using them in tests before the fair, as long as animals are well cared for and not hurt.
No computer programs are allowed except in support data of a project.
If you need electrical power, you MUST provide your own 20 ft. electrical extension cord.
DEFINITION: Good scientists keep
logs or scientific diaries. We will call this a Project Record.
In this record you should write down:
1. All the materials you
use
2. Everything you do
with them and
3. Everything that
happens
PROCEDURE: Make sure your Project Record begins on the first day of your project. A complete Record would contain the date and time of each entry and what you observed or did. Remember to include any time you spend reading or researching your project. When something unexpected happens or you make a "mistake", write that down, too. There are NO mistakes in scientific tests. In fact, they may be the basis of a wonderful discovery!
FORMAT: Your Project Record should consist of a notebook containing well-organized, hand-written documentation of your project. Although hand-written records are preferred, computer pages are allowed IF they represent original documentation. A Project Record is NOT revised or transcribed information from another source.
WHO: All entries in the Regional Science Fair must include a Project Record. The judging form consists of a section which requires judges to evaluate your project based on data being found on your display AND in your Project Record. You WILL NOT receive all possible points if your data is not documented in the appropriate places.