VHS Science Project Website
Welcome. This website is designed to be the go-to source of all information for science research projects.
If you have additional questions, please seek help from your science teacher.
Science Fair Projects
Young minds at VHS compete each year at our school, regional, state, and international engineering fairs. We here at VHS mentor independent science research for our students. Our youth are tomorrow's inventors. These competitions are great opportunities for cash prizes, scholarships, college acceptance, along with opportunities to meet other students from the area and around the world that share similar interests and learn more about how the world works in order to offer solutions to individual, local, or even global problems.
*Congratulations to our 2024 State Science Fair Winner:
Ava Ehinger- 4th place in Plant Sciences
Sarah Colley- Stockholm Junior Water Prize
*Congratulations to our 2024 Regional Science Fair Winners:
Maggie Byrne- 1st Place in Behavioral & Social Sciences
Special Award: American Psychological Association
Sarah Colley-1st Place in Earth & Environmental Sciences
Special Awards: Association for Women Geoscientists Foundation & Yale Science and Engineering Association Inc
Ava Ehinger- 1st place in Plant Sciences
Special Award: The Society for Invitro Biology
Tori Thomas- 1st place in Behavioral & Social Sciences
Special Award: USAID Science Champion
Grace Froehle- 1st place in Environmental Engineering
Special Awards: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), Military Officers of America, Kindom of the Sun Chapter, Public Education Foundation Special Award
Nolan Kennedy & Brady Kline- 2nd place in Earth & Environmental Sciences
Special Award: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)
Annison Chandler- 3rd place in Chemistry
Special Award: Lockheed Martin Science Challenge
Nykolis Morgan- 5th place in Microbiology
Emily Sapp & Evie Blackburn- 5th place in Earth & Environmental Sciences
1. Animal Sciences
2. Behavioral & Social Sciences
3. Biomedical & Health Sciences
4. Cellular/ Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
5. Chemistry
6. Earth & Environmental Sciences
7. Engineering
8. Environmental Engineering
9. Intelligent Machines, Robotics and Systems Software
10. Mathematics & Computational Sciences
11. Microbiology
12. Physics & Astronomy
13. Plant Sciences
Science Project Resources
A catalog of science resources that can support your quest to learn and do science
In this section of Student Science, you'll find standards and guidelines that will help you pursue high-quality independent scientific research, whether you're in middle school or high school, an advanced science student or first-time researcher.
Just Getting Started?
Begin with some of these sites designed for the beginning researcher. We also encourage you to read through our series on Great Science Projects.
Skype with a Scientist Connect with a scientist
Project Database - If you're not sure how to get started performing science research, this page will explain some pathways you could take. A searchable database of ISEF abstracts from 2014 to 2023.
Mosaic - An online 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.
Intel ISEF Rules and Guidelines - Rules and guidelines for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
Additional interesting science-focused educational resources:
Intel Education Page - Intel's listing of education resources for students and teachers
Computer Science Online: Educational Resources, Degrees, and Career Tracks
Zooniverse Participate in citizen science projects where anyone can be part of a larger project and learn to collect data.
Great Science Projects:
Creativity can be the spark that ignites a great science project
Inspiration for your project should come from YOUR interests, something you saw or read about, or personal experience for example
Learning what is known is the first step toward discovering something new through research
Learn the terminology
Suggested Project Timeline- Refer to document links for help and format
8/18-9/1 Research
8/18 Project Proposal in a logbook. Click here for how to set up a logbook. Meet with your sponsor(teacher)
9/5 Typed Research Paper & References
9/8 Research Plan in your logbook (rough draft of procedures). Meet with the sponsor for guidance. Choose from one of the formats that apply to your project:
9/15 Typed Research Plan with Bibliography (final draft) & Typed ISEF Forms with Signatures (Approval Forms section below). Print forms and Research plan to turn into your sponsor. Make sure you and your parent/guardian have signed form 1b.
9/15-22 Corrections to Typed ISEF Forms with Signatures, Corrected Research Plan, VCS Fair FT form due
September – October Experiment (Remember to take lots of pictures, record data in the logbook, and don’t procrastinate!!!)
11/3 Typed Report (See guide below), Abstract, & Project Summary
11/6-11/10 Typed Report Corrections & Design/Make Board (see below)
11/14 Tri Board Set up 3:00 – 4:00 pm VHS Middleton Gym
11/15 Judging Day - Dress professional & be prepared to present all day
Approval Forms
Project Guide
Successfully-Developing-Practicing-Science-Research-Presentations.pdf