District Science Fair

In schools with few projects, students can enter the District Science Fair even if their school did not hold a school-level science fair.

For schools with many projects, a school-level science fair will need to be held to keep the number of entries to between 10 and 12 projects.

***Important*** Students/parents should contact Laura Bastian directly for additional forms if any student is conducting research involving the following:

 *Working in an industrial or laboratory setting with a professional scientists or supervisor

 *Human Participants

 *Vertebrate Animals

 *Potentially hazardous biological agents (including any experiments that include growing bacteria or mold)

 *Potentially hazardous substances and/or devices

 *Potentially hazardous chemicals and/or materials

 If students conduct research involving any of the above without prior approval, then they won’t be able to participate in the science fair.

Projects should NOT be demonstrations or repeat previously done experiments, but rather should be a collection and analysis of DATA.
1. Effect of music on plants
2. Effect of talking to plants
3. Effect of dark vs. light on plants or colored lights, etc.
4. Effect of giving plants other things than water, e.g. milk, soda, salt water, etc.
5. Effect of cola, coffee, etc. on teeth; tooth decay, coloring, etc.
6. Effect of running, jumping, music, video games, movies, etc. on blood pressure
7. Balanced diets (data usually unreliable)
8. Strength/absorbency of paper towels (and other products)
9. "Which is best?" -- Approach generally without scientific merit (which popcorn pops better, which soap, fertilizer, etc.)
10. Basic maze running
11. Any project which boils down to simple preference; what do girls/boys/cats/dogs like better. ..
12. Effect of color on memory, emotion, mood, etc.
13. Effect of color on food taste, e.g. changing the color of Jell-O to effect the taste
14. Optical illusions
15. Reaction times in general and distractions effecting reaction speed
16. Many male/female comparisons, especially if bias shows
17. Basic planaria regeneration
18. Detergents vs. stains
19. Basic solar collectors
20. Acid rain projects (Important: to be considered, thorough research into the composition of acid rain and a scientifically accurate simulation of it would be necessary.)
21. Basic flight tests, e.g., planes, rockets
22. Battery life (plug in and run down)
23. Basic popcorn volume tests
24. Taste comparisons, e.g., Coke vs. Pepsi can you tell the difference?
25. Sleep learning
26. Music effecting learning
27. Taste or paw-preferences of cats, dogs, etc.
28. Color choices of goldfish, etc.
29. Basic chromatography
30. Wing or fin shape comparison with mass, surface area, etc. not considered
31. Ball bounce tests with poor measurement techniques
32. Fingerprints and heredity
33. Hovercraft design
34. Colonizing bacteria from doorknobs, student's hands, places around the school, etc.
3 5. Memory Tests
36. Penny polishing; what cleans pennies the best
37. Insulation effectiveness
38. Coke & Mentos
39. Hand sanitizers and bacteria; which sanitizer is best?

We follow the rules and judging guidelines of the USEF (University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair).

Visit the USEF website for details, registration info, and required forms.

Science Fair Notebook

Wednesday, February 5

8:00: Secondary students set up and bring poster boards.

8:30 to 10:00: Judging of secondary projects.

10:00 to 10:30: Clean up secondary projects. Students will take them home with them at this time.

10:30 to 11:00: Set up of elementary projects. Bring poster boards.

11:00 to 1:30: Judging of elementary projects. Students will take them home with them at this time.

Poster Dimensions

48” x 48” or 48” x 72”

International maximum display limits

30” deep, 48” wide, 72” high

Use the display below for general guidelines on how to organize research information.

Back of Board:

Name, School Grade

Other helpful hints

Title: Make it catchy and descriptive. You can have a fun or short main title with a more descriptive sub-title underneath in smaller lettering.

Theme & Colors: Often it is best to choose only 2 or 3 colors for your entire poster. Maintain the same theme and fonts throughout the entire poster. Print graphs and pictures in color.

Neatness & Organization: Although the look of your poster doesn’t officially affect your score, it can subconsciously affect the way the judges feel about you and your project. Make sure lines are straight, everything is cut out nicely, and that the organization is easy to follow. Use “zots” or “adhesive mounting pads” for a 3D effect.

Font: Choose at least size 14 font so it can be read from a distance of 3 feet. Use a simple font like Times or Arial.

Fitting it all in: When printing out your sections, you can use the most narrow margins to fit more words on a page as long as it will fit in your poster. You can also choose to layer multiple graphs, tables, or testing materials by placing in sheet protectors, overlapping, and attaching with brad fasteners. Use this “flip chart” style only with related data, series of photos, or steps.

At the start of each school year, School Science Fair Organizers must contact Laura Bastian (email address link) to ensure that they are on the district’s school science fair email list.

To ensure that students have the smoothest transition from school science fair to district science fair to regional science fair, we must maintain similar expectations for projects and presentations. Please review the following documentation for support organizing and running the school level science fair.

Timeline

Who, What, When of Science Fair

Science fair rules may seem pesky, but USEF has rules because we care about students. We aren't trying to stop students' fun; we are trying to keep students, families, and teachers safe. Rules also ensure that projects comply with international, federal, and state laws.
USEF is affiliated with the Intel ISEF, so projects must follow all ISEF rules. The complete ISEF rules are found here: https://www .societyforscience.org/isef/intemational-rules
The Intel ISEF website has a handy Rules Wizard that helps you know what, if any, additional forms you will need to fill out. The Wizard can be found here: https://ruleswizard.societyforscience.org
The following are not allowed. Doing these things will get a project disqualified to advance to next level competitions. So, do not do them! Bolded items are the most frequent offenders.

Project

• Plagiarism, fabrication of data, or any other form of ethical misconduct.
• A demonstration project. (If your project is simply showing how something works, it is probably a demonstration. Change it into an experiment by selecting and manipulating a variable.)
• Failing to get SRC pre-approval if your project requires it.
• Failing to complete and submit the required forms. Be sure that you get all required signatures, and be certain that your dates are correct. If, for example, a form says you started your project on November 1st, but you didn't get SRC approval until November 15th , then we have a problem.
• Doing a project involving human subjects without IRB pre-approval.
• Doing a research project that causes more than momentary pain or suffering to vertebrate animals.
• Doing a project designed to kill vertebrate animals.
• Growing microorganisms at home (bacteria, fungi, etc). You can grow bacteria in a LAB.
• Doing a project designed to engineer bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics.
• Working with a BSL 2 organism in a BSL 1 lab .
• Working with any BSL 3 or 4 organisms.
• Doing a project with hazardous chemicals, activities, or devices without a Designated Supervisor ( or a Qualified Scientist, if using a DEA-controlled substance).

Project Display
Resolving problems with your display is usually possible, but it is best to simply avoid violating the display and safety rules. It is probably best to leave most of the things you might want sitting at your display at home. Use pictures instead; it will not negatively affect your judging scores and it will make your life much easier. The only things that you need at your project are your display board, lab book, and research report (if you have one).
The following are not permitted:

• All of your project display, including notebooks, pictures, gadgets, and papers, must fit within these
• dimensions: no more that 30" deep, 48" wide, and 108" tall (from floor to top).
• No living organisms, taxidermy specimens, preserved animals, human/animal body parts or body fluids are permitted.
• No pictures showing vertebrate animals during laborato1y procedures are allowed.
• No food is permitted at your display.
• No raw plant materials, living, dead, or preserved is permitted.
• No chemicals (including water), no hazardous substances or devices, highly flammable material, sharp items, or glass are allowed your display.

Students who advance from the District Science Fair will participate in the Utah Regional University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair (USEF). Students who are invited MUST register themselves for this fair before the deadline. Details for the 2025 USEF Competition are available.

2025 USEF Flyer