1. Southern Ohio District 14 Science Day
University of Rio Grande
Saturday, March 23, 2019

2. Welcome John Means, URG/RGCC, Co-Director
Tara Byrd, Minford MS, Co-Director
Gwen Daniels, Gallia-Vinton ESC
Sharee Price, South Central Ohio ESC

3. Notes from Last Year
117 registered participants from Gallia, Lawrence, Pike, and Scioto counties
24 schools represented
34 awards presented
$3700 money and scholarships presented

4. Notes from Last Year
30 students/27 projects qualified for State Science Day
25 projects represented D14 at SSD
8 superior ratings at SSD
18 excellent ratings at SSD
12 students/10 projects qualified for Buckeye Science & Engineering Fair

5. Trying to Avoid This

6. Trying to Achieve This

7. Science Fair Benefits Direct application of scientific method
Aligns with Vision, Goals, and Guiding Principles stated in Ohio Revised Science Standards
Can be utilized to meet Science Inquiry and Applications standards
Students developing skills that will help improve performance in future science classes and assessments
Award money and scholarships at DSD and SSD

8. Rules and Guidelines Teacher Guidelines State Science Day Standards
Physical Display Expectations
Photo Credit Form
What is NOT allowed at a Project Display
Scientific Method vs. Engineering Design
Also Metadata

9. Qualifying for DSD Superior rating at local science fair event
Assigning places for qualification can be inaccurate
Using DSD/SSD score cards give students idea of what to expect
County fairs not required step for qualification
Excellent practice, though

10. Qualifying for DSD Judges are incredibly important!
Make sure judges at local event understand importance of taking criteria seriously
Judges need to ask questions to help students refine project and presentation
Brief judges training prior to science fair can help
Students can make adjustments to project and presentation prior to next step

11. Team Projects Rule
Team projects with missing participant – comments only
Not eligible for special awards

12. Display and Photos
Nothing can project more than 1 cm from face of display board
Must display photo credit form on display

13. Display Space
Equipment or materials used, or developed, as part of this project may be displayed if:
it fits within the display dimensions. (Free-standing floor exhibits not permitted, must fit on table); and
it is not listed in “items NOT ALLOWED at Project Display”; and
it meets Safety Regulations stated in State Science Day Standards and is deemed safe by the Display and Safety Committee upon inspection.
Permitted items may include Engineering Design prototypes and equipment designed and built to complete scientific research and to collect data for a project, assuming it meets the criteria above.

14. Display Space No demonstrations of experiments
Nothing that could be dangerous
Glass
Food
Chemicals
Bacteria
Animals or animal parts
Etc., etc. – typically common sense stuff

15. Project Types All start with problem or question Hypothesis-driven
Propose hypothesis to test
Traditional experimentation
Engineering Design
Propose machine/equipment design to address problem
Optimize design to address problem
Metadata
Utilize/analyze already acquired or publicly available data

16. Forms Science Fair Project Checklist Interest Inventory
Judging categories
Overview of ISEF forms
ISEF forms
OAS consent
Scientific Fraud Statement

17. Project Process State problem or question Research problem/question
Propose hypothesis or design
Develop Research Plan
Perform experiments/Build machine or equipment and test, recording notes and drawings in notebook
Analyze data and develop conclusions
Write report/create display

18. Identifying Topic Creativity of project part of score
Encourage students to explore topics that are relevant to them
Interest Inventory template provided in packet
Teacher assistance can always help to improve student project ideas

19. ISEF Forms Written registration forms
Approvals required before experimentation for work with human subjects, animals, or hazardous materials
ISEF forms can be completed when registering for District Science Day
Be careful with dates on forms!!!
A number of dates must be from prior to experimentation

20. ISEF Forms Everyone completes Forms 1, 1a, and 1b
Form 1 tells other needed forms (1 form/project)
Fill in blanks on Form 1a (1 form/project)
Student and parent signs section 1 of Form 1b (1 form/student)
Refer to the Overview of ISEF Forms to determine which other forms
If questions, ask us!

21. Only needed if work done at research university
Likely needed before experimentation with human, animal, and hazardous biological agents
Do not complete this section

22. Templates Sample Project Schedule Research Plan Requirements checklist
Research Plan Template
More on this is following slides
Final Paper Templates
Abstract Template and Sample

23. Getting the Project Done
Make deadlines for various parts of the project
Space out to promote higher quality projects and greater sanity

24. Research Plan What is the problem or question?
What is already known about this problem or question?
What is the proposed hypothesis or design
How will the proposed hypothesis or design be tested (steps of experiment)?
What data will be gathered?
This is the first half of the final report

25. Research Plan Assistance
Rio Grande science faculty and upper-level science majors will review students’ submitted Research Plans
Constructive criticism communicated to students (not a proofreading service)
Free and voluntary
Interested students Research Plan to

26. Final Report Includes Research Plan
Describes what was actually done throughout project
Should be distinct from notebook or journal
Journal is raw data
Try to involve English Language Arts teacher, if possible

27. Abstracts Should be summary of work Should be brief
Typically a single paragraph
Many students simply use their introduction and/or procedure as the abstract

28. Judging 1 of 3 districts piloting new scorecards Scientific Inquiry
Engineering Design
Metadata
Individual and Team cards for each
Will distribute when final formatted score cards received

29. Pilot Score Cards

30. Pilot Score Cards

31. Discussion Points How is science fair approached at your school?
How does your school get students involved?
What else can we do to provide support to you?

32. Wrapping Up
Please provide names and contact info for other teachers in your school or district who participate in science fair
Lots of additional resources at