Congratulations! By choosing to participate in a science and engineering fair, you can “try on” a career, stretch your world, and discover your talents. Preparing a STEM project at any level helps you achieve higher levels of thinking in science, math, data analysis, writing. Competing at the science and engineering fair is even valuable for college and scholarship applications.
Every public, private or home-schooled student in the identified grades for a Terra Fairs county can compete in their fair. Check YOUR FAIR’S webpage to see if your grade is eligible.
There are two general project divisions known as a) Research and Engineering Design (RED) and b) Topic Presentations.
| RED Division (Require Data) | Topic Division (No Data) |
|---|---|
| Senior Research & Engineering Design Grades 9-12 (requires SRC documentation) |
Topic Presentation Grades 5-12 |
| Junior Research & Engineering Design Grades 5-8 (requires regional-level paperwork only) |
Research and Engineering Design Division is organized into Senior (high school, grades 9-12) and Junior (middle school, grades 5-8) Levels. These projects involve data collection in a scientific experiment or throughout multiple iterations with an engineering design. RED students compete for Fair Honors, Special Awards, and state, national and international advancement.
Topic Presentations are organized as an all-grades Division. Students make a model or learn about a particular topic outside the usual school curriculum for their grade. They prepare a report and poster, and compete for Fair Honors and some Special Awards. Students in grade 5-12 may present in this division, however, typically students choose Topic Presentation Division as a “beginner year” to become familiar with the fair experience. Advanced students may also use a Topic year for their planning and training in research techniques.
Affiliated science and engineering fairs require documentation signed by responsible adults that the students and their research subjects are safe throughout the process. Your sponsor (a teacher, parent or mentor) must review all of your procedures BEFORE the student begins experimenting or building. Sometimes additional adults are brought in based upon their specific expertise to make sure you and your subjects are safe. Those adults’ signatures and dates prove that evaluation was completed. The Terra Fairs use a variety of processes to gather this documentation. Follow YOUR FAIR’S guidelines for safety paperwork precisely. If you have questions, contact your Fair Director of email [email protected].
Basically, you will ask a question and head off for the adventure of finding your own answer! Students can use resources such as the ScienceBuddies.org website as they choose topics, plan projects, collect and analyze data, even prepare their report, poster and judge presentation.
If you are a Senior RED student, you must complete the safety review process required by YOUR FAIR and get signatures on the Media Release. That means your project plan is reviewed BEFORE you begin your actual experiment or construction so a responsible adult can be assured that you and your subjects will be safe throughout.
If you are a Junior RED or Topic Presentation student, you must complete the forms required by YOUR FAIR and have a parent or guardian sign the online Media Release.
YOUR FAIR will direct you on how to set up your project and talk with judges. How the one or two days of your fair play out is entirely up to each individual Fair Committee, so watch YOUR FAIR’S website and your email for schedule details.
ISEF identifies 21 separate categories for projects across all fields in science, technology, engineering and mathematics! For more information about categories click here.