Information for competing in the Science Fair

The idea of the Science Fair is to give students a challenging extension activity they can take as far as they like; ideally producing work they can be proud of discussing at university interviews and in personal statements. 

It is also designed to provide an entry way for students who are not yet at that point; an opportunity to extend their science understanding outside of the classroom in whatever way their passion dictates. 

These two concepts are covered by the two strands of the Science Fair, named after two famous explorers:

Livingstone is for students to re-enact or review something they have heard about or seen. This could be doing an experiment they’ve seen or heard about online, a demonstration, ‘library’ research or informational projects, and/or ‘explanation’ models. 

Shackleton is a more rigorous project giving a student researcher the opportunity to engage in authentic scientific research or engineering practice and to share their experiences and findings with others. Students may try to recreate an investigation to see if it holds true in a specific environment, for example, or do their own unique investigation into whatever their passions and interests dictate. 

Rules

The rules were taken from the International Science and Engineering Fairs (ISEF) (guidelines are here) . This means they are robust and cover most scenarios. 

We plan to hold an annual science fair and will send the best entries to compete at an Invitational Science Fair at the Alice Smith School in March 2023. 

Ideally, over the next few years, the aim is to get this Science Fair certified by the ISEF as an official fair. This would mean that the winners would be eligible to travel to America to compete in the global finals which would be an amazing experience and give them a chance of winning some incredible prizes. 

Next Steps

If you're interested in competing please fill out this form.