General Information

One of the main purposes of the regional science fair competition is to bring together students from throughout the region whose projects/papers were selected as the best from their particular schools. Through a science fair project, students obtain a glimpse of the scientific method. They learn what it is like to think like a scientist, to investigate and experiment in an area of their interest. Since only the very best projects are selected for regional competition and since many people view these projects, proper procedures and rules are necessary. It is very important that a student is properly supervised, that his/her project is performed and exhibited safely, and that humane procedures are followed, especially when higher animals are used in a research project. Consequently, please follow the rules as listed. The "Planning a Good Science Fair Project" and "The Scientific Method" pages were modified from and are courtesy of the Flint (Michigan) Area Regional Science Fair booklet.

The general rules and regulations for the Middle School/Senior High School Division are listed further on. Specific rules that need to be adhered to are available at the Intel ISEF website http://www.societyforscience.org/ISEF/about/rules_regulations.asp

Rules and regulations for the Elementary School Division are slightly different than the Middle School/Senior High School Division and are also listed further on this website.

Participants: Any boy or girl in grades 6-12 of a public, private, parochial or home school is eligible to participate in (1) the research project and exhibit (project) competition, and/or (2) the research paper competition at the regional fair Middle School/Senior High School Division. Students may compete in a local school fair before earning the opportunity to be certified for regional competition. Many schools, especially in the upper grade levels, simply send those students interested in doing a project and/or paper directly to the regional fair. We highly encourage schools to send more students to regionals if there is interest. Numbers attending our regional fair, mostly the high school level, affect how many project allocations our region will receive for students advancing on to the Intel ISEF. Any boy or girl in grades 3-6 of a public, private, parochial or home school is eligible to participate in the regional elementary fair. All must register according to deadlines. Online registration will end 11:59 p.m. of the specified date for each fair. NEW AS OF 2012: Sixth Grade students may participate at either of our regional fairs - to be determined by student's school and/or family.

Repetition of Previous Year's Work: A project exhibited in the previous regional science fair may not be re-entered without substantial expansion and development.

Middle School/Senior High School Division – Project and Paper Registrations: Student registration forms are available to be completed online or available online in PDF format to download after the school is signed up; be sure to print or photocopy a copy (before submission) for backup. After each online project or research paper registration submission, the Science Fair Coordinator (the email address submitted on the school signup) should receive an email confirmation of the submitted information. Please cross check the information. If after submission, the email does not arrive to the coordinator, then contact our office. As of 2012, we have eliminated the need for a different registration for individual and team projects. Please check that the form is completely filled out. Complete the correct registration form and return it to your advisor/educator to send to the Regional Science Fair Office. If registrations are completed online, educators/advisors will not need to send a copy of the registration, but should keep a form for themselves. For online registration, remember to PRINT AND KEEP a copy for your files! Registrations either completed online or by hard copy are due by the deadline of Monday, January 7, 2013. Payments for registration are due Tuesday, January 15, 2013. To participate in both the project and paper competitions, two student registrations will need to be completed along with fees for both competitions. Registration fees for either the paper or project competition is $20 per student per entry. If a student chooses to register for both the paper and project competition, there will be a $20 registration fee for each competition or $40 total. If there are additional team members, each member needs to also pay the $20 fee for each competition. NO LATE RESEARCH PAPER REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Remember to send three copies of the Research Paper (postmarked no later than January 7, 2013) OR electronically send a PDF of the Research Papers to our office to arrive by Tuesday, January 8, 2013 by 9:00a.m. It is advantageous to print copies in color if there are graphs or charts. Late registrations may or may not be listed in the fair booklet. Any project registered after deadline date will be accessed a $5 late fee per participant, for a total of $25. Online registration will be NOT BE AVAILABLE after the deadline date after 11:59 p.m. No project registrations will be accepted after Tuesday, January 15, 2013. All registration fees need to be paid prior to fair. No fees will be refunded after January 15, 2013. Any approved late project registrations are expected to pay the late fee as well as payment needs to accompany the project registration. Fees cannot be transferred to another student or project after January 15, 2013.

Elementary School Division – Project Registrations: Student registration forms are available to be completed online or available online in PDF format to download after the school is signed up; be sure to print (or photocopy a copy) before submission as backup. Online registrations are highly preferred by the Science Fair Office. After submission of any online registration, the Science Fair Coordinator (designated email address in school signup) should receive an email confirming the registration submitted. This is an excellent time to double check grade levels, spelling of names, titles, the need for electricity, etc. (In the past, registrations not entered online caused 40-80 hours of work after deadline, causing lists to be sent to the schools to be checked, dependent upon all registrations being entered.) Complete the correct registration form and give a copy to your advisor/educator to keep for his/her files. Educator/advisor supervision is strongly advised for project registrations. For online registration, remember to PRINT AND KEEP a copy for your files! If registering online, a copy of the registration form is not required, but is helpful for our office. Registrations either completed online or by hard copy are due by the deadline of Monday, March 11, 2013. Payments for registration are due by Friday, March 29, 2013. The registration fee for project competition is $20 per student. If there are additional team members, each member needs to also pay the $20 fee. Projects which are done by a team need to remain a team even at regionals. If a member of the team cannot present, each member needs to pay their fee in order for the project to compete. Cancellations after fair booklet production (March 29, 2013) will still be expected to pay the registration fees. LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED unless there has been direct communication and approval with the Science Fair Office. If a school is participating, all registrations need to go through the school. Payments for any late, but approved registrations, will need to accompany project registration. Late registrations may or may not be listed in the fair booklet. A $5 late fee will be accessed to any late registrations even with approval. If in doubt, call us at 507-389-2849.

 

 

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