Advisor Checklist
Page address: http://www.mnsu.edu/sciencefair/school/advisorchecklist.html
Middle School/Senior High School Division
- As soon as possible, discuss the idea of planning a project and the timeline with your students. At the Middle School/Senior High School level, they will want to begin deciding a project and completing the library search in the fall. This will give them at least October – December for the experiment and conclusions.
- Continue to give each one instruction on the scientific method, planning a project or research paper and the timeline for participation.
Help interested students or inform them on how to seek assistance.
Talk to each student that is planning a project to be sure it is safe for themselves or other living things. A copy of the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) Rules are available at http://www.societyforscience.org/isef .
If you have a student planning to experiment with vertebrate animals, humans, or pathogenic agents, they will need to complete the Intel ISEF Certification Forms available at http://www.societyforscience.org/isef or refer to the regional forms. Each student/team is expected to complete the Research Plan (1A), The Research Plan Attachment and the Approval Form (1B), the Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1) and an abstract. Any students experimenting with vertebrate animals, humans or pathogenic agents will also need to complete appropriate paperwork. If your school does not have a local scientific review committee, this paperwork must be submitted to the Regional Science Fair Office prior to the start of the project. Completed certifications forms should be sent along with the project and research paper registrations.
- Research Paper Registrations: Give the web address of the SC/SW MN Regional Science & Engineering (SC/SW MN RSEF) web site to your students (Science Fair Web Site) . The regional office prefers that all registrations be completed online. It is convenient to have the student access any needed information that they need. Students that are attending the SC/SW MN RSEF can register one of the following ways: online registration, a PDF form that would be downloaded, completed and mailed, or by hard copy which will be sent to the coordinator by request. We suggest that the advisor/educator supervise the registration process. If completing the process online, please be sure to print out a copy for your purposes before submitting. When submitting a hard copy of the form, be sure to make and keep a copy for your records. Remind the students who are registering by a hard copy, to return his/her registration forms to you along with three copies of their paper and send the school’s registrations to the Regional Science Fair Office by Monday, January 7, 2013. PDF files of research paper may be sent electronically to our office by Tuesday, January 8, 2013 no later than 9:00a.m. Payment is expected by Tuesday, January 15, 2013. A $5 late fee/per person will be added to all late registrations or late payments . (Refer to the section dedicated to the registration fees. Online registration will not be available after January 7, 2013 unless special considerations have been given by the regional office.) There is a $20.00 registration fee per person. If the research paper was done by a team, each member needs to pay the $20 registration fee. Each research paper will be read by two Minnesota State University, Mankato professors. The students with top papers will be invited to present their papers at the SC/SW MN RSEF, held at MSU on Saturday, February 16, 2013. The regional office will inform the coordinator/advisor of the finalists and the schedule of the finalists’ oral presentations. Finalists’ advisor/educator will receive back the students’ research paper and the judges’ evaluations in case the students wish to work with any feedback given by the judges. Students are encouraged to consider feedback from judges and make changes accordingly. A projector is provided for each presentation room. There are no guarantees that your presentation will be compatible to what Minnesota State Mankato has. If possible, please check out prior to the beginning of the day. Students will be excused from their project at the time that they are involved in the presentation of their research paper.
- Project Registrations: Give the web address of the SC/SW MN Regional Science & Engineering (SC/SW MN RSEF) web site to your students (Science Fair Web Site) . The regional office prefers that all registrations be completed online. There are two different registration forms available for Middle School/Senior High School students who wish to attend the SC/SW MN RSEF. There is research project registration form which includes team or individuals, and a registration form for research papers. Registration can be done by one of the following ways: online registration, a PDF form that would be downloaded, completed and mailed, or by hard copy which will be sent to the coordinator by request. We suggest that the advisor/educator supervise the registration process. If completing the process online, please be sure to print out a copy for your purposes before submitting online. When submitting a hard copy of the form, be sure to make and keep a copy for your records. Remind the students who are registering by a hard copy, to return his/her registration forms to you to send the school’s registrations to the Regional Science Fair Office by Monday, January 7, 2013. (The majority of Middle School/Senior High School project and research paper registrations are done online.) Payment is expected by Tuesday, January 15, 2013. A single school check is preferred and greatly appreciated. Never staple, but use paperclips to attach checks or cash to copy of registration. A $5 late fee will be added to all late registrations or late payments per person. (Refer to the section dedicated to the registration fees. Online registration will not be available after January 7, 2013 after 11:59 p.m.) There is a $20.00 registration fee per person. Each team member will also pay $20.00 per project. Any missing certification forms will be communicated with the coordinator of forms which are sent in a month in advance.
- After each online project registration, the Science Fair coordinator should receive a confirmation email of each of the registrations. Please review ASAP. Approximately, five to ten days before the SC/SW MN Regional Science & Engineering Fair the coordinator/educator/sponsor will receive an email that will include a list of all registered students from your school(s) along with their assigned research paper or project number. Each student/team of students will have a report on their paper work (protocol). If the student’s name is incorrect at any level of the communications, please let us know. We can only fix the information in the fair booklet up to 4.5 weeks prior to the fair date or by January 15, 2013. If any information is incorrect, please inform us immediately. Encourage students to double check all forms for correctness before submitting. Please be sure to check overall info, especially spelling of names, grade level, project category and project title.
- SC/SW Middle School/Senior High School Regional Science & Engineering Fair Date – Saturday, February 16, 2013.
Elementary School Division
- As soon as possible, discuss the idea of planning a project and the timeline with your students. At the Elementary School level, they may want to begin deciding a project and completing the library search in the fall. This will give them from November – February for the experiment and conclusions, and allow time for a local fair and to forward paperwork to the regional fair office.
- Continue to give each student instruction on the scientific method, planning a project and the timeline for participation. Information is available at this web site.
Help interested students or inform them on how to seek assistance.
If you have a student planning to experiment with humans or vertebrate animals, they will need to complete the Intel ISEF Certification Forms (4A or 5A) available at http://www.societyforscience.org/isef or refer to the regional. Otherwise, each elementary student/team is expected to complete the simplified Elementary Project Approval Form. If your school does not have a local scientific review committee, this paperwork must be submitted to the Regional Science Fair Office PRIOR to the start of the project. Completed copies of the certifications forms should be sent along with the project registrations. Any missing forms will need to be completed prior to the regional fair.
- Project Registrations: Give the web address of the SC/SW MN Regional Science & Engineering (SC/SW MN RSEF) web site to your students (Science Fair Web Site). It is convenient to have the student or parent access any needed information that they may need. Students that are attending the SC/SW MN RSEF can register one of the following ways: online registration, a PDF form that would be downloaded, completed and mailed, or by hard copy which will be sent to the coordinator by request. We suggest that the advisor/educator closely supervise the registration process. If completing the process online, please be sure to print out a copy for your purposes before submitting. When submitting a hard copy of the form, be sure to make and keep a copy for your records. Remind the students who are registering by a hard copy, to return his/her registration forms to the teacher prior to deadline to send the school’s registrations to the Regional Science Fair Office by Monday, March 11, 2013. Online registration is preferred. Payment is expected by Friday, March 29, 2013 by cash, check or credit card. A single school check is preferred and greatly appreciated. A $5 late fee will be added to all late registrations or late payments per person. (Refer to the section dedicated to the registration fees. Online registration will not be available after 11:59 p.m. on March 11, 2013.) There is a $20.00 registration fee per person. Each team member will also need to pay $20.00 per project. Any missing certification forms will be communicated with the coordinator. Late registrations will not be accepted unless prior approval is given by regional office. If accepted, the late registrations may or may not be listed in the fair program. All (pre-approved) late registrations are to pay the late fee of $5 per person. We ask that one teacher/adult/advisor pick up all the registrations and pre-ordered t-shirts for their school. In the past, we have seen a school-assigned adult hold up a sign for the school. There will be no reimbursement of fees after March 29, 2013. Substitution of students and/or projects will not be permitted.
- Approximately, ten to five days before the SC/SW MN Regional Science & Engineering Fair the coordinator/teacher/sponsor will receive an electronic email which will include a list of all registered students from the specific school(s) along with assigned project numbers, schedule of the day, etc. We expect each school to either print out the information to their students or to send electronic files to families. Each student/team will have a report on their paper work if certifications forms are turned into regional office by deadline. If the student’s name is incorrect at any level of the communications, please let us know ASAP. We can only fix the information in the fair booklet up to four-six weeks prior to the fair date or by March 29, 2013. If any information is incorrect, please inform us immediately. One person from each school should be designated to pick up the registration packet and pre-ordered t-shirts on fair day at the specified registration table. We will provide a master list of the t-shirt orders and sizes specific to school.
- SC/SW MN Elementary Regional Science & Engineering Fair Date – Saturday, April 27, 2013.
