Information for Students

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Entry Deadline

Event Dates

Setup
Friday April 2ND, 2004
between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Fair
Saturday April 3RD, 2004
between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM

Event Location

Important General Rules

  1. No more than two people may work on a project.
  2. If students from 2 grades work on one project, it will be judged at the higher grade level.
  3. Both students must be in Grade 6 or higher.
  4. Students in Grades 6 to 12 may enter.
  5. Atom projects, (Grade 6) are NOT eligible to win a trip to the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
  6. Entries are selected by each school.
  7. Your teacher will know how many projects are allowed from your school.

Project Categories

Projects can be either experimental or studies. They can be in: The competition categories are:

Types of Project

Experiment:
Predict the result of a test you can perform. Carry out the test. Collect the results, make sense of the results and draw conclusions.
Study:
Collect a lot of information from observing the world around you. Consult books, magazines, experts, Internet etc. Sort it out and summarize the important and interesting points. It may be difficult or impossible to control the variables.
Here are some examples:

Life Science
Experiment: What fertilizer makes flowers grow best?
Study: On what side of a tree do robins build nests?

Physical Science
Experiment: What material makes the best insulator?
Study: Planets

Engineering
Experiment: What affects the strength of a bridge?
Study: Analysis of a family's energy consumption.

Computer Application
Experiment: Writing a new computer program.
Study: Uses of a commercial software package.
Be Aware: Animals
Vertebrate animals such as fish, birds, dogs, cats, lizards, hamsters, mice, humans, etc., may only be observed in their natural habitat. They must not be used as part of the experiment nor can they be displayed at the fair.
Fertilized eggs must not be part of any experiment.
Check with the chairperson before starting any project involving animals
Micro-organisms
Check with the chairperson before starting any project involving microorganisms. Some are prohibited by law.
Plants and Soil
Government rules prohibit soil or plants from being displayed at the Canada-Wide Fair. They are allowed at the United Counties Fair.

Display of Project

Safety
No display may have anything which may be harmful to students or the public, including:
Chemicals
(Display harmless substitutes, photos or empty containers instead.)
Prohibited Products: drugs, pills, medicines, alcohol, fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, gasoline, oil, household cleaners, pool chemicals, aerosol cans with any contents or pressure, poisonous crystals, mercury filled thermometers, etc.)
Flames
Hot Substances
plugged in heaters, kettles and light bulbs without a protective guard.
Exposed or dangerous electrical wiring (over 36 v)
Explosives
Unprotected sharp or moving objects.
Flammable materials (including the products for setting up the display).
Lasers cannot be turned on at the Science Fair.
All projects must pass a safety check after setup and must remain safe for the duration of the fair. Your project must be safety checked before you leave the hall on Friday. Any problems must be rectified or the project will be disqualified.
Due to health regulations, no samples of food, drink, etc. may be distributed at the fair.

Project Construction

Usually, a 3-sided display is used. Any backboard material that your school approves may be used at the United Counties Science Fair. If you win one of the trips to the national science fair, you will have to transfer your project to a Canada Wide Science Fair approved backboard, provided by the committee.
All cloth, paper and other materials must be fastened at all edges to the backboard. Multi-page reports or graphs cannot be hung from the backboard. Nothing can hang from the table.
No wall may be used to support or display any part of your project.

Size

Half of a 1.2 m. (4') by 2.4 m. (8') sheet of material will make a good backboard, such as the one shown below. If you need more space, the one at the right can be made from a whole sheet.
A table about 0.8 m high is provided. Your display can stand on this, or on the floor. It must stand firmly by itself, with no danger of falling.



The entire project must fit into a space no larger than 1.2 m wide by 0.8 m deep by 3.5 m from the floor. Oversized projects must be reduced by fair opening time or they will be disqualified.
If you require electricity for your project, bring an extension cord approximately 3 m long.

For more information, call Karen Rorabeck School 347-2441
Visit our website at cnwl.igs.net/~scifair/index.html