| Q: |
Why do I need to give you my Social Security Number? |
| A: |
The Internal Revenue Service requires that for any award given by the university it must report recipient’s name and Social Security number to the IRS. For a student who may receive a total of $600 or more during the entire calendar year, for any event or program, the student must report the earnings and possibly pay taxes on those earnings. If the university does not report the earnings from the fair, then we could be fined $150 for each student we fail to report and could come under review by the agency.
[See our Web site for more IRS rules information] |
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| Q: |
Why does the day take so long? |
| A: |
Due to the more than 400 projects on display, it takes approximately three hours to judge the projects using the paired judging teams. In the event of a discrepancy between the two judges, another set of judges is sent out to interview the student(s) again. The determination of the cash and scholarship winners (as well as those who are selected to go to state and the international fair) requires ranking all of the projects. Then this information is fed into a Power Point slide show for the awards ceremony. It is always challenging to prepare the emcee’s narrative and the slide show by the 4 p.m. start of the awards ceremony. |
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| Q: |
Why are there so many forms? |
| A: |
The forms are an attempt to do three things. First, they are meant to protect the student scientist by requiring that an outline of the process and any chemicals or equipment used in the experiment be reviewed by an advisory group to ensure that proper procedures are being followed or adult supervision is required. These are to be reviewed prior to experimentation. It also examines where the project is to be conducted: in the home, at school or at a research institution where there might be a proper environment for the experiment to occur.
Second, the forms are to protect any vertebrate animals that may be used in the experiment. The animals are not to be poisoned or harmed, nor can they be disposed of after the experiment. We ask that the student explain what animals are to be used and what the experiment involves to evaluate the amount of stress placed on the animals.
Third, if the project is a survey where personal information is collected, then the type of data planned to be collected must be reviewed prior to collection to determine if any sensitive information is being collected. Permission must be granted to collect information and the individual must be informed that the information might be displayed at a science fair.
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| Q: |
Why aren’t the scores provided prior to the awards ceremony? |
| A: |
We are limited in time to get the materials ready for the awards ceremony. This is our first priority. We also need time to double check the accuracy of the recorders and the judges before releasing the scores. |
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| Q: |
Why can’t students bring objects to display? |
| A: |
Physical objects are prohibited as a general rule for safety reasons. We don’t want potentially hazardous electrical circuits, glass test tubes and beakers of unknown liquids, present at the display. By eliminating all physical objects everyone is placed on the same basis in terms of the display criteria. Similarly, no physical objects are permitted on the poster boards. There have been Petri dishes, baseballs and other objects pasted on the posters, which we have then had to remove or the student could not participate. Use only colored or white paper. |
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| Q: |
Why must a teacher or parent from each school be present at the awards ceremony? |
| A: |
At the awards ceremony we announce the students who are eligible to attend the state science day. The individual student is responsible for submission of the state science day registration materials along with the ISEF forms. The packet of materials must be postmarked no later than the Tuesday after the date of our fair. Due to the very short time available for submission, we want the registration form and scholarship selection information in the hands of the teacher and those students as soon as possible. Having the teacher and /or a designated parent present after the awards ceremony is the quickest way to get the forms into the appropriate individual’s hands. We also have a group of people available to answer any questions and assist with the scholarship selection process after our fair. |
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| Q: |
Why does the judging process take so long? |
| A: |
The Ohio Academy of Science has established that each project be judged on a standard set of criteria as outlined on the OAS website. In addition the projects are to be judged by two people ideally one teacher and one scientist and the two scores are averaged together. Our mission is to find those with specialties in the various categories and match the judges to the number of student projects in each category.
There are never enough teacher judges to volunteer for the fair. In that case we have to use two UC faculty or industry professionals. The number of judges who come to the fair determines how quickly we can judge all of the student projects. We are gaining more judges each year, but each year as many as 30 judges who signed up do not show up the day of the fair. The number of judges that are present directly influences the time it takes to have every project judged. Ideally we would like to maintain the ratio that each judging team is assigned to no more than three projects.
In some cases the paired judges disagree over the scores for a student. In that case, we send out a second team to judge the project. We can never know in advance which projects will require re-judging; only after the score cards are turned in and reviewed in our score room do we know. Once these projects have been identified, then a second team of judges is assigned to re-judge the project and return the completed score cards. |
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| Q: |
Why are there no chairs in Great Hall for the students? |
| A: |
Due to fire code regulations, the exhibit hall must provide at least six feet of aisle space between the rows of tables. If the space for the chairs were included, only half the number of students could be accommodated in Great Hall. This would reduce by half the number of students who could come to the fair. |
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| Q: |
Why do I need to obtain consent for photos of individuals and where do I record permission signatures for photos of individuals used on my poster? |
| A: |
In order to protect the identity of individuals, and to obtain permission to show photos of others in public, all photos of individuals' faces (other than the student scientist) displayed on the poster must have a permission signature from the individual. In the lower left hand corner of FORM 4 there is space for consent signatures |
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