FAQs

General FAQs

HOW MANY TEAM MEMBERS CAN I HAVE?

You can have 3 people on a team. These team members can be from other schools and different grades within your division of Middle or High School. However, you must make sure your teachers know that you are registering with a student from another school if you are participating through your science or engineering class. If you want to participate with a student in another grade, be careful because you will be judged by the oldest in the group. You cannot compete with a middle school and high school mixed team.

HOW DOES A TEAM SUBMIT THEIR REGISTRATION?

The Student Leader on a team will submit the entire on-line registration. Each team member needs to scan their signed respective parental/student consent forms and provide them to the Student Leader to submit with the on-line registration prior to the start of the registration.

I SUBMITTED MY PROJECT, I WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE SOME INFORMATION (description, title), WHAT DO I DO?

If you would like to change anything about your project, but you have already COMPLETELY submitted it, please contact Nadia at ncompton@sacstemfair.org.

How to Prepare Your Project FAQs

HOW MANY TEAM MEMBERS CAN I HAVE?

You can have 3 people on a team. These team members can be from other schools and different grades within your division of Middle or High School. However, you must make sure your teachers know that you are registering with a student from another school if you are participating through your science or engineering class. If you want to participate with a student in another grade, be careful because you will be judged by the oldest in the group. You cannot compete with a middle school and high school mixed team.

HOW DOES A TEAM SUBMIT THEIR REGISTRATION?

The Student Leader on a team will submit the entire on-line registration. Each team member needs to scan their signed respective parental/student consent forms and provide them to the Student Leader to submit with the on-line registration prior to the start of the registration.

I SUBMITTED MY PROJECT, I WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE SOME INFORMATION (description, title), WHAT DO I DO?

If you would like to change anything about your project, but you have already COMPLETELY submitted it, please contact Nadia at ncompton@sacstemfair.org.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ABSTRACT ON THE REGISTRATION?

For our registration, a project abstract is a brief paragraph or two (limited to 250 words or 1,800 characters) summarizing the major points/most important ideas about a project. An abstract is what allows judges to determine the nature, scope, and skill of a project. Students should:

– Emphasize these aspects: purpose (hypothesis), methods (procedures used), how they will collect data in a quick summary, and expected conclusions.
– Focus only on the current year’s research.
– Use short complete sentences, but vary sentence structure. Don’t abbreviate by omitting articles or other small words in order to save space.
– Avoid jargon and use appropriate scientific language.
– Use concise syntax, correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
 
The Staff suggests that you coordinate with the student’s English/Language teacher to assist the student in not only writing the abstract, but working on the structure in order to provide judges the best description possible.
 
NOTE: High school students should complete an abstract following the Regeneron ISEF form here once they have completed their projects – in the case they are selected to continue to ISEF, they will need this form to be completed.

Student Registration FAQs

HOW MANY TEAM MEMBERS CAN I HAVE?

You can have 3 people on a team. These team members can be from other schools and different grades within your division of Middle or High School. However, you must make sure your teachers know that you are registering with a student from another school if you are participating through your science or engineering class. If you want to participate with a student in another grade, be careful because you will be judged by the oldest in the group. You cannot compete with a middle school and high school mixed team.

HOW DOES A TEAM SUBMIT THEIR REGISTRATION?

The Student Leader on a team will submit the entire on-line registration. Each team member needs to scan their signed respective parental/student consent forms and provide them to the Student Leader to submit with the on-line registration prior to the start of the registration.

I SUBMITTED MY PROJECT, I WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE SOME INFORMATION (description, title), WHAT DO I DO?

If you would like to change anything about your project, but you have already COMPLETELY submitted it, please contact Nadia at ncompton@sacstemfair.org.

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ABSTRACT ON THE REGISTRATION?

For our registration, a project abstract is a brief paragraph or two (limited to 250 words or 1,800 characters) summarizing the major points/most important ideas about a project. An abstract is what allows judges to determine the nature, scope, and skill of a project. Students should:

– Emphasize these aspects: purpose (hypothesis), methods (procedures used), how they will collect data in a quick summary, and expected conclusions.
– Focus only on the current year’s research.
– Use short complete sentences, but vary sentence structure. Don’t abbreviate by omitting articles or other small words in order to save space.
– Avoid jargon and use appropriate scientific language.
– Use concise syntax, correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
 
The Staff suggests that you coordinate with the student’s English/Language teacher to assist the student in not only writing the abstract, but working on the structure in order to provide judges the best description possible.
 
NOTE: High school students should complete an abstract following the Regeneron ISEF form here once they have completed their projects – in the case they are selected to continue to ISEF, they will need this form to be completed.

WHAT IF WE ARE UNABLE TO SIGN THE ELECTRONIC FORM?

If you are unable to sign the form on-line, you can print out the section; each page with a signature has a link at the bottom which will give you a printable version. Then you can either scan and upload the signed sheet back into the registration, or you can email it to Nadia at ncompton@sacstemfair.org. You also have the option to fax to (916)442-4182 or mail to 455 Capitol Mall, Ste 500 Sacramento, CA 95814.

HOW DO STUDENTS FILL OUT THE REGISTRATION WHEN IT IS A TEAM PROJECT?

When there is a team project, only one student (the Student Leader) needs to fill out the registration.

DO MY STUDENTS NEED INFORMED CONSENT FORMS FOR ALL HUMAN INVOLVED EXPERIMENTS?

Yes, all projects which involve humans – whether it is in survey form or non-anonymous observation – need to turn in a sample of their informed consent form in their registration. There is an option to upload the form they developed into their registration. If they are unable to do so, they can email, fax or mail it. The form does not need to be signed when turned in for registration. However, during the Fair it is crucial that students bring the signed consent forms just in case the judges ask for an example.

WHAT IS A QUALIFIED SCIENTIST?

A Qualified Scientist is an individual with a doctoral/professional degree related to student research or Master’s degree with SRC approval.

I WANT TO COMPETE, BUT I MISSED THE REGISTRATION DEADLINE – WHAT DO I DO?

The deadline to submit registration in the Competition Division for the 2021 Sacramento Regional STEM Fair is in February 2021. There will be no exceptions. If you miss the competition deadline, you will be automatically entered into the Showcase Division.

DEADLINES

If you or your students are struggling with the deadlines, PLEASE do not be discouraged. Send us a note (sacstemfair@sacstemfair.org) and we would be happy to discuss it with you!

Event Day FAQs

WHAT ITEMS CANNOT BE AT A STUDENTS DISPLAY? WHAT ARE THE RESTRICTIONS?

Judge FAQs

WHAT ITEMS CANNOT BE AT A STUDENTS DISPLAY? WHAT ARE THE RESTRICTIONS?

DESCRIBE JUDGING.

Judges will have time to look over the project boards and preview the displays prior to the commencement of judging. Only students and judges are present in the exhibit hall for judging on Saturday beginning at 9AM. Students should be prepared to summarize their projects and/or answer questions about it in 2-3 minutes or less. After 2-3 minutes, judges can begin to ask questions about the project. Remember, you are judging the project, not the student – do not ask personal questions like age, grade, or school. Please feel free to give as much positive feedback as time will allow.

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For additional information contact Nadia Compton, Director at (916) 441-3150 or ncompton@sacstemfair.org