APL S & E Fair

Resources

TOPIC IDEAS

If you don't have your science project idea yet, check out all the different subjects you can enter your project under! If you are still having trouble, please visit our friends at Science Buddies to get some Project Ideas!

You can also use their Topic Wizard for help in identifying what kind of Science or Engineering Project would be most interesting and fun for you

Put on your lab coats, bring out your blueprint, or formulate your equation because its time for you to start your project!

YOUR DISPLAY

Items Not Allowed at Your Project during the Fair

For the health and safety of everyone attending the Science & Engineering Fair, some items are not allowed at the Fair. To illustrate your project or experiment, please use pictures or videos with your display board if your project requires the use of any of the following materials.

1. Living organisms - including plants

2. Soil, sand, rock and/or waste samples - even if it is permanently encased in a slab of acrylic

3. All chemicals and liquids - including water.

a. Projects may not use water in any form in a demonstration during the Fair. (Bottled water for your own consumption is allowed and will be provided)

4. Taxidermy specimens or parts

5. Preserved vertebrate or invertebrate animals

6. Human or animal food.

a. Projects may not use food in any form in a demonstration during the Fair. (A snack for your own consumption is allowed and may be brought from home or purchased from the snack bar)

7. Human or animal parts or body fluids (for example: blood/urine/saliva)

8. Plant materials (living, dead, or preserved) that are in their raw, unprocessed, or non-manufactured state

(Exception: manufactured construction materials used in building the project or display)

9. All hazardous substances or devices (for example: poisons, drugs, firearms, weapons, ammunition, reloading devices and lasers)

10. Dry ice or other sublimating solids

11. Sharp items (for example: syringes, needles, pipettes, knives)

12. Flames or highly flammable materials

13. Batteries with open-top cells

14. Glass or glass objects unless deemed by the SSRSEF to be an integral and necessary part of the project (for example: glass that is an integral part of a commercial product such as a computer screen)

15. Any apparatus deemed unsafe by the Scientific Review Committee (for example: large vacuum tubes or dangerous ray-generating devices, empty tanks that previously contained combustible liquids or gases, pressurized tanks, etc.)

HOW TO DESIGN YOUR PROJECT BOARD

MAXIMUM SIZE OF PROJECT

Do not display your last name or your school name anywhere on your project.

Depth (front to back): 30 inches or 76 centimeters

Width (side to side): 48 inches or 122 centimeters

Height (floor to top): 108 inches or 274 centimeters

HELPFUL WEBSITES

Our favorite helpful website is www.ScienceBuddies.org because it has everything you could need to help you get started with your Synopsys Sac STEM Fair project! But of course, there are other great websites out there to help you with research, examples and basic knowledge of a subject you are interested in to lead you to a project! Below are some of the great websites we've found:

Sites to Help with Getting Started

1. Internet Public Library – Science Fair Project Guide - A resource guide providing a variety of excellent web resources. (www.ipl.org/div/projectguide/)

2. Sparticl - A new web and mobile service for teens that collects the best Internet resources in STEM. (www.sparticl.org/

Sites to Help with Research

3. Mosaic - An on-line archive of articles published in the National Science Foundation's flagship magazine from 1970 to 1992. A background resource for students, teachers, and others in need of a reliable reference for current research. (www.mosaicscience.com)

4. The National Science Digital Library - An on-line library for those interested in education and research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. (www.nsdl.org)

Sites to Help with your Project Board

5. www.OWLPAKS.com - This is where you can get ALL of your supplies to create your project board for the STEM Fair! Just go towww.owlpaks.com/kit and enter the Synopsys Sac STEM Fair code # 314159 and order away! It's as easy as p

Fun Sites

6. Code.org - This website has helpful tutorials on the basis of computer science, coding and programming. It even lets you learn coding with simple building blocks while playing your favorite games like "Angry Birds"! (www.Code.org)

7. 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? (Student.societyforscience.org/sciencenews-students)