Welcome
to
the Region 8 Western Regional Science Fair
Director:
Kefyn Catley
Biology Department
Western Carolina
University
Email kcatley@email.wcu.edu
This year the regional
will take
place on February 13-14, 2008
at the Ramsey Regional
Activity
Center, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee. The schedule will be
posted on
this site soon. Check back.
Dear Teachers: Unfortunately I had to
cancel the lunch. Only about 8
teachers got back to me! However, I am putting on a very nice teacher
reception with coffee and cakes on the concourse during the morning.
A important message from
the Director:
Greetings! I hope your students’ projects are all progressing
well. We are looking forward to celebrating their successes at the
Regional Science Fair. The schedule follows below. A reminder about the
Regional registration form and the other required ISEF forms. Elementary and Middle School
students will be required to complete the NC Elementary and Middle
School Research Plan and Approval Form prior to starting their
research. Additional forms may be required depending upon what the
student is doing for research. Teachers may choose to use ALL ISEF
forms instead of the NC Elementary and Middle School Form, but must
still have project research/engineering plans reviewed for safety. High School students are required to
complete ISEF forms 1, 1A with the
Research Plan, and 1B prior to beginning their research.
Additional forms may also be required according to ISEF rules. Please
have your students use the ISEF Rules Wizard to determine which forms
are required.
In addition, each student needs an Official
Registration Form, Abstract (250 words) and Release Permission Form.
All ISEF forms are available from http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/forms.html.
Click here to download the: Official
Registration Form and Release
Permission Form
More information for teachers at http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/teachers/index.html
All forms
must be received no later than 5:00 PM, February 4th. Given that
the Fair had to be held earlier this year, I have put the deadline back to
accommodate those schools not holding their fairs until later. When
mailed (the preferred method) please make up a stapled packet for each
student and mark the envelop “Science Fair Entry”. If absolutely
necessary you may also fax them to me at: Fax 828 227 7066. Please send
any questions to me via email rather than leave a phone message. I will
be able to respond more quickly.
Important message for teachers.
This year I intend to provide a buffet lunch as a small token of
appreciation for all the hard work you have put in. There are two
potential problems. I need you to email me ASAP with your intention to
attend the lunch (one email per school is fine with total numbers of
teachers), so I can order the correct amount of food. Perhaps
more importantly, you also need to make sure your students have
sufficient chaperons to take care of them while they eat, so you can take a
break, socialize, and eat with other teachers. It took a great deal of
effort to find funds for provide a lunch and I can only make it happen
if I have sufficient numbers of teachers. So please find more chaperons
and email me soon that you will attend! kcatley@wcu.edu
This year we have an exciting array of organizations bringing displays
and hands-on activities. Many of them provide professional development
or research opportunities for teachers as well as courses and
internships for students. These will include; Appalachian Highlands
Science Learning Center, Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute,
Highlands Biological Station, RiverLink Inc., Air Force Climatology
Center, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, North Carolina Center for the
Advancement of Teaching, Center for Math and Science Education, WCU.
Plus displays by the science departments at WCU and of and of course
the ever popular chemistry magic show!
In addition several scientific supply house and organizations
including; Air Force Climatology Center, Wards, Pisgah Astronomical
Research Institute, Fisher, Pasco, Arbor Scientific, and others have
provided valuable prizes that will be awarded to the best projects in a
number of categories.
8:00 am - 9:00 am
Set-up projects in the Ramsey Center Concourse
8:45 am - 9:00 am Judges
Meeting
9:00 am - 11:30 pm Judging in
Ramsey Center
9:15 am - 10:15 am Chemistry Magic
Show in main arena
10:15am - 11:15 am Interactive displays
in the general area of the concourse
10:45 am - 11:15 am Students to stand by
their projects to answer judges’ questions.
11:15 am - 12:15 pm Lunch on your own.
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Viewing open to
the public.
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Elementary Division Awards Ceremony in the main arena.
Breakdown of Displays (immediately
following Awards Ceremony)
Western Regional Science Fair February 13-14, 2008
Ramsey Regional Activity Center, Western Carolina University,
Cullowhee
Tentative Schedule of Events for
Middle and High Schools
February 14, 2008
8:00 AM - 2:00 PM
_______________________________________________________________________________
The Regional
will follow all ISEF rules and
guidelines.
To ensure all students participate on a level
playing field
it is vitally important that students follow all ISEF rules regarding what is allowed as
part of their poster
presentation for the regional. Students not following these rules will
not be
allowed to set up their projects. http://www.sciserv.org/isef/aff_fairs/aff_regulations.asp
ISEF Forms: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/forms.html
ISEF Rules: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/rules.html
ISEF Student handbook http://www.sciserv.org/isef/document/index.asp
Judging guidelines http://www.sciserv.org/isef/judges/judges_guidelines.asp
Links to all required
forms and
other important information are available from the NC State Science
Fair
website: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/
Including:
Details for students
and teachers:
http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/projecthelp.html
Rules and regulations:
http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/rules.html
ISEF Forms: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/forms.html
Categories: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/categories.html
Project help and
resources at: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/projecthelp.html
Student Science Fair
Checklist
from the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF): http://www.sciserv.org/isef/students/student_checklist.asp
Awards: http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/students/awards.html
Online Science Fair Resources
Science Buddies
Science Buddies is a
non-profit
organization that provides free online resources for science education.
The
website helps K-12 students do better science fair projects. The Topic
Selection Wizard offers a large online library of project ideas and
Starter
Kits. Science Buddies also offers Ask an Expert, an online forum in
which
students can ask questions about their projects and get answers from
scientists
and engineers who volunteer as e-mentors. Science Buddies also
maintains a set
of teacher resources for science fair planning and a science fair
project help
guide.
The WWW Virtual
Library - Science
Fairs
http://physics1.usc.edu/~gould/ScienceFairs/
Science fairs are held
around the
world. If you want to see what others are doing this site has
hyperlinks to
local, regional, state, foreign and even VIRTUAL science fairs.
Science Fairs and
Science Projects
- Resource Page http://sciencevideos.com/products/fair/science_fairs/science_fairs-1.html
Contains everything
that teachers
and students need to know about science fairs including links to the
best
resources on the Internet. If you
are looking for great science fair videos or any printed materials
check out
the web site.
The Internet Public
Library
http://www.ipl.org/youth/projectguide/
Contains the Science
Fair Resource
Guide that offers teachers, students and parents a complete listing of
web
sites dedicated to science fairs and projects. The
site provides links to how to do a science fair project,
samples, ideas, magazines and resources.
This site is arranged from the basic to the most detailed, with
special
notes to teachers and parents. For
more information about this resource, check out their web site.
MadSci Net
http://www.madsci.org/libs/areas/sci_fair.html
A component of the MAD
Scientist
Network. This site contains links
and resources on everything you ever wanted to know about science
fairs,
age-specific ideas for projects, as well as how to put a science fair
together.
Some of the links include: School Science Fair Homepage, Science Fair
Idea
Exchange, The Society of Amateur Scientists, Practical Hints for
Science Fair
Projects and Yahoo's listing of science fairs.
The Discovery
Channel's Science
Fair Studio
http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/
Something for everyone! The "Student" sections are
Handbook, Project Ideas, Links and Books.
The "Teacher" section deals with issues related to organizing
a science fair. The "Parent" section titled "Helping Your Young
Scientist" emphasizes that the most important outcome of your child's
science project is the joy and learning that comes from scientific
discovery—not winning a competition! It
provides helpful hints to parents about selecting a
project and resources available.
Intel International
Science and
Engineering Fair
The Olympics, the
World Cup and
the World Series of science competitions. Held annually in May, the
Intel ISEF
brings together over 1,200 students from 48 states and 40 nations to
compete
for scholarships, tuition grants, internships, scientific field trips
and the
grand prize: a trip to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremonies in Stockholm,
Sweden.
Science Service founded the ISEF in 1950 and is very proud to have
Intel as the
title sponsor of this prestigious, international competition.
The CSMEE Science Fair
Companion
http://www.ericse.org/scifair.html
Science Fair Guides,
Science Fair
Resource Centers, and Links to Science Fairs and Competitions.