1. Science Fair Introduction International Baccalaureate East

2. Overview IB East winners will compete at Regional Fair Polk Regional Science and Engineering Fair Jan 30 – Feb 1, 2008 Regional winners will compete at State Fair April 16-18, 2008 State Fair winners will compete at International Fair May 11-15, 2008 $4 million in prizes

3. Important Website www.sciserv.org/isef

4. All Projects Required forms (on ISEF website): Checklist for Adult Sponsor (1) Must be someone with science background Student Checklist (1A) Research Plan (1A) Bibliography includes a reference to ISEF Rules Abstract (completed at end) Approval Form (1B)

5. Additional Requirements Additional procedures are necessary for research involving: Humans Non-human vertebrate animals Pathogenic Agents Recombinant DNA Human or Animal Tissue Controlled Substances Hazardous Substances or Devices

6. Examples Institutional Review Board for human research Behavioral research must be approved by a psychologist Physiological research must be approved by a biomedical researcher (e.g., M.D., Ph.D.) The student’s teacher or parent cannot be on the IRB Exceptions: Research only involving observation with absolutely no contact or influence on subjects and no personally identifiable data, or research using publicly available, non-identifiable data

7. Examples Vertebrate research must be approved by a veterinarian or appropriate scientist Some research must be conducted in specialized facilities Pathogens must be disposed of in approved fashion See ISEF Rules and Guidelines for Precollegiate Student Research and Rules Wizard on ISEF website for details

8. IRB and SRC Some studies require a Qualified Scientist to oversee An Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Scientific Review Committee (SRC) must review and approve all projects involving: human subjects vertebrate animals pathogenic agents hazardous chemicals and devices or recombinant DNA

9. Advice Avoid research involving living things and hazardous materials (even power tools) Slight exception: observational investigations of living subjects, and studies using publicly available, non-identifiable data are less difficult Important: Your testing cannot be started until the Research Plan and all preliminary forms are approved.

10. Continuing Research To continue previous research, you must: Have all paperwork from previous years Be further developing the research

11. Ethics Statement Scientific fraud and misconduct is not condoned at any level of research or competition. Plagiarism, use or presentation of other researcher’s work as one’s own, forgery of approval signatures and fabrication or falsification of data will not be tolerated. Fraudulent projects will fail to qualify for competition in the Polk Science and Engineering Fair.

12. Examples of Categories Zoology (ecology, populations, etc) Earth & Planetary Science (climatology, paleontology, etc) Behavioral & Social Science (psychology, sociology, etc) Health (epidemiology, genetics, etc) Physics & Astronomy (optics, electronics, etc) Energy & Transportation (fuels, aerodynamics, etc) Environmental Science (recycling, forestry, etc) Botany (photosynthesis, plant evolution, etc)

13. Assignment Think of a scientific question to research for your project. Due in class on 9/17 or 9/18 Describe why your question deserves research. Develop your hypothesis (“if / then” statement) Include references for 10 quality sources of scientific information related to your research. Talk to me if you have questions about potential topics.

14. Other Homework Go to the homework section of the course website and download the assignment. Go to http://earth.brucesabin.com/textbook.pdf and download the textbook. There are no links to this, so you need to write down the webpage address!