Students & Parents
Review the information below to find out how to participate in the Sacramento Regional STEM Fair!
Display Info for Presentation, Video, & Quad Chart
Students will have five minutes to give judges a presentation on their project Presentations can be made using PowerPoint or other presentation software, a trifold board, a Quad Chart, or some other presentation that involves the student making a live presentation to the judges. The judges will have five minutes to ask questions of each student. Once their allotted time elapses, students will be stopped.
Step 01
Determine if you want to compete for awards and prizes or if you would like to exhibit only!
COMPETING DIVISION
Middle School
Grades 6-8
COMPETING DIVISION
High School
Grades 9-12
SHOWCASE DIVISION
Grades 5-11
Step 02
Make sure that you can enter the Fair and that your schedule is clear for the entire day of the Event!
Read the General Information and FAQ pages if you have some questions.
Step 03
Decide on your topic and develop your experiment or design.
DON’T START EXPERIMENTING YET!
Remember your registration needs to be completed PRIOR to your experimentation.
Step 04
Use the Student Checklist and the Road map to Registration to help you prepare for registration.
Complete the necessary items in order to make registration easier.
Step 05
YOU’RE READY!
Begin registration using the buttons below. Make sure you take note of your Regional STEM Fair ID Number!
Your Regional STEM Fair ID Number will be used to identify your project and MUST be on the back of your Display Board.
Step 06
Check your Emails!
If you didn’t catch your Regional STEM Fair ID Number during registration, you will receive a notification email with it listed.
BE SURE TO WRITE YOUR REGIONAL STEM FAIR ID NUMBER (or numbers if you’re on a team) ON THE BACK OF YOUR PROJECT BOARD.
Be sure to check your SPAM folders for our emails as we will let you know if your registration is missing anything up until the event!
Project PDF
maximum 12 pages
Presentations will be reduced to a single PDF document (12 page limit). This will replace the traditional trifold board you would normally produce for a STEM Fair. All text should be easily readable when viewing the entire page at once. The smallest allowable font size of body text is 14-pt., and an 18-pt. font is recommended. Exception: You may use a smaller font size, down to 10 pt., for figure captions or photo credits. More instructions here. The Sacramento Regional STEM Fair recommends students complete this requirement prior to the Fair, but this document is not a requirement of the Sacramento Regional STEM Fair.
Project Video
2 minutes
Students will also be required to produce a project video, summarizing your project at a high level to be used primarily for the public display of projects. While judges at ISEF will be given access to all of the materials you submit, they will be using the video if they need to perform further review your project. ISEF has asked that the videos do not include in-depth information, but rather make a brief 2-minute high-level overview. As it is now a requirement of ISEF, the Sacramento Regional STEM Fair has decided to make it a requirement as well. Additional video requirements available here. Videos will be due ahead of the Fair.
Quad Chart
1 page
A “quad chart” is a single page divided into four quadrants providing a high-level summary of the project. It is intended to be more visual than detailed to quickly introduce your judges to what is important about your project. The chart is broken up into four important sections: Research Question/ Engineering Objectives, Methodology/Project Design, Data Analysis & Results, Interpretation & Conclusions. Learn more here. The Sacramento Regional STEM Fair recommends students complete this requirement prior to the Fair, but this document is not a requirement of the Sacramento Regional STEM Fair.
Scientific Process Categories
Behavioral & Social Sciences
The science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals and their interactions with the environment studied through observational and experimental methods.
Chemistry
(Includes Biochemistry, Chemistry, Chemical Energy, and Pharmacology)
Studies that explore the identification of the substances of which matter is composed; the investigation of their properties, and the ways in which they interact, combine, and change, and the use of these processes to form new substances.
Biology & Health Sciences
(Includes Animal, Cellular, and Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Plant Sciences, Health Sciences, and Transitional Medical Sciences)
Focuses on human or animal body systems or overall health.
Physical Sciences & Math
(Includes Earth & Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics, and Astronomy)
Focuses on the science of matter, energy, mathematical functions, and applied mathematics.
Engineering Design Process Categories
Friends of the Folsom Powerhouse Applied Engineering
(Includes Engineering mechanics, Materials Science, Robotics and Intelligent Machines)
Studies that focus on engineering that involves movement or structure. The movement can be by the apparatus or the movement can affect the apparatus.
Sustainable Technology
(Includes Biomedical Engineering, Physical Energy, Environmental Engineering, and Green Chemistry):
Focuses on sustainable or green materials or products
Computer Software & Technology
(Includes Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Embedded Systems and Systems Software):
The practical approach to computation and its applications.
Timeline of Events!
Project Registration Opens
June
Project registration is open. Sign up online and begin brainstorming.
Identify your topic & research it.
August-September
Think of a topic that interests you or that is relevant to you and develop a question or a solution to a problem Remember: STEM is in everything! For example, if you love art, you could research how the chemicals in paint react or how they make the artificial colors.
Begin researching your topic. Be sure to record and cite your sources
Keep a notebook to record notes throughout your project, including references for your bibliography, observations, measurements, sketches and diagrams. Narrow down your topic to one that you can experiement with.
By late September, you should have completed your initial research, identify your topic and conduct specific research on your topic.
Plan & prepare for your experiment
October-November
Plan for your experiment! Draft out what steps you will take in your experimentation and make a list of what materials you will need.
Purchase the materials for your experiment – make sure to have enough for a few trials! Be sure to list out your safety procedures as well because you will need it for your STEM Fair registration. Make a hypothesis and record it!
After you’ve come this far, go online and fill out your Project Registration. Be sure to keep an eye out on your email – this is how we will contact you if we have any questions to inform you if we are missing anything.
*BEFORE EXPERIMENTATION*
Project Registration
Complete your Project Registration online or submit a paper copy. You MUST submit your paperwork PRIOR to experimentation. If you do not have the paperwork in before you begin your experiment, you may be disqualified from winning awards and prizes. We suggest submitting your paperwork in NOVEMBER so that you can get it out of the way and off your plate.
Experiment
December-January
Perform the procedures you developed in October and November. Record all observations and data in detail in your notebook. When you are experimenting be sure to collect both quantitative (numbers and measurements) and qualitative data (descriptive observations).
We suggest you videotape and photograph your experimentation. This way if you have materials that are not alloqed at your project display during the Fair, you are still able to showcase the work you performed.
Analyze your data and draw conclusions. This is where you reflect on what happened during experimentation – what did you observe? What does it mean in the real world? Would this work affect other areas of the world?
Create your project board & display
January-February
Before you begin and display world, make sure to review the Items Not Allowed at Your Display list and the display guidelines. Make sure that your display board fits in the dimensions provided because you will be limited to those guidelines.
Prepare your 2-3 minute presentation. Take a look at our “Project Tips/Interview” section on the Student & Parents page. Remember: your judges will be scientists and engineers; you do not have to explain every tiny detail to them.
Deadline for Project Registration
February
This is the FINAL DEADLINE for Project Registration. There will be NO extensions. If you submit your project registration after this date, you will not be eligible to compete.
Finalize Project! It's Fair Time!
March
Make sure to review the online information packets that are posted close to the date of the Fair. These contain information pertaining to timing, parking, student check-in, activities for the day and more!
Finalize Project Drop-Off!
March/April (Date TBD)
Student Project Check-in and Drop-off will be held on site from 5pm-8pm. Stop by tonight to make your event day SUPER easy!
Helful Websites for you and your classrom!
1
Sparticl – A new web and mobile service for teens that collects the best Internet resources in STEM.
2
The National Science Digital Library – An on-line library for those interested in education and research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
3
eGFI – Tools to boost your students’ math and science skills, enliven the classroom with engineering projects, lesson plans and activities and demonstrations.
4
Find your Path Through NGSS – Choose different STEM topics and cross cutting areas to see different activities and lesson plans!
5
6
Science News for Students! Pretty self-explanatory, but this news site can help you see what real world problem professional scientists and engineers are tackling – maybe you have a better solution?