Science Day Rules
Northwest District Science Day Rules1. Students must be science or mathematics course participants in grades 5 through 12.
2. Students must have been judged at a local Science Day and have received a superior rating or received special permission to enter from the Director of NWDSD.
3. The projects should be experimental in nature and based on the student’s own work. Some projects based on library research may also be accepted.
4. Projects must be new or further developed, extended, or changed in one or more aspect from that of a previous year.
5. Each entrant will need to complete and return a minimum of five forms plus an abstract. Signature of sponsoring teacher and parent is required on appropriate forms. SEE REGISTRATION FORMS.
6. Each student must give the requested information, including grade level. Field of entry must be indicated.
7. Each student must complete aResearch Plan (1A) and display it with his/her project.
8. Each student must provide an abstract of less than 250 words to be sent in with the entry and fee. A heading must contain the project title and name(s)of the entrant(s). The purpose of an abstract is to provide a summary of the project that will inform interested individuals of the contents. The wording must be written in a manner that any scientifically minded individual, who may not be familiar with the topic, can understand the project's important points. The following should each be summarized in a few sentences:
a.b.
c.
d.
e.
f. / Background information necessary to understand the problem and its importance.
The problem that was investigated and your hypothesis.
Outline of the materials and methods used in your experimentation.
Summary of the results obtained from your experimentation.
The conclusions drawn from your results.
The importance or potential applications your research offers.
9. Each student must have a copy of their research report/log book and copies of all required forms at their project site. All projects require forms 1, 1A, 1B, an individual/team registration, and a consent/release form. If research involves vertebrate animals, human subjects, pathogenic agents, controlled substances, recombinant DNA, human and nonhuman animal tissue, and/or hazardous substances and devices additional forms are required. All forms will be reviewed by the District Scientific Review Committee. Failure to meet the requirements will lead to disqualification.
10. Each student is allowed a 36" wide by 30" deep table space for a poster display. Floor projects are not permitted; projects may extend only 7 feet from the floor. The exhibitor's name must be displayed. School identification is permitted. Only data logs, notebooks, and other paper data are permitted on the table top. Battery-operated computers may be used only for simulation, modeling or animation integral and essential to the project results or data display and not for general PowerPoint presentations. The score of a student's project may be impacted by the violation(s) if either the physical dimensions or physical items rules are not followed.
11. At Northwest Ohio District 2 Science Day each student/team is expected to present the RESULTS ofresearch; a performance or demonstration of the experiment is not expected. Entrants should have already done an experiment or conducted many research trials and thus have adequate RESULTS in the form of charts, graphs, data tables, logbooks, and laboratory notebooks--all recorded with dates--which should be with the project. Photographs or drawings of equipment on the display backdrop, in the research report, project notebook, or laboratory notebook should document and explain the equipment used. Items on your display backdrop should be used as visual cues to keep the oral presentation to the judges on track or to refer to when answering questions. The whole project, in simple form, should be visible on the poster boards. Abstracts, project logbooks, laboratory notebooks, research reports, and additional data should be in folders or binders close at hand for reference.
12. Information such as postal, web, and e-mail addresses, telephone, and fax numbers are allowed for the exhibitor only. The only photographs or visual depictions of identifiable or recognizable people allowed are photographs of the exhibitor, photographs taken by the exhibitor (with permission of individuals received), or photographs for which credit is displayed (such as from magazines, newspapers, journals, etc.).
13. The cost of entry is $20.00 for each student. This money is used to run the program at all levels, to buy trophies and other supplies, and to support the state-wide activities of the Academy's Junior Academy Council.
14. Judges must be supplied from the participating schools; one judge for every five students.
15. Duplicate projects from the same school will not be eligible.
16. Late entries (deadline established each year by the District Committee) will not be accepted.
17. Two judges will judge each project for the Ohio Academy of Science ratings. If each judge grants a total score within any one rating category (Superior, Excellent, Good, or Satisfactory), that specific rating (Superior, Excellent, Good, Satisfactory) will be granted to the student and no rejudging is permitted.Rejudging is automatic and is permissible only if all three of the following conditions apply:
a.b.
c. / the judges' final ratings are in different categories,
the average of the judges' scores is in the lower category, and
if the judges differ in their total points by more than five points.
18. A participant signed up for a sponsored award must remain at his/her table until he/she has been judged by both general and special judging teams. If a participant must leave for any reason, please return shortly and leave an explanatory note or information with an adjacent exhibitor. Please note that sometimes special judges may arrive before general judges. General judging is complete when participant receives a participation ribbon. Sponsored award judging is complete when so noted on a projection screen in the exhibit hall.
19. Participants qualifying for State Science Day must attend (or an appointed representative must attend) the Awards Ceremony at 2:30pm the day of Science Day to receive their State registration information