UPDATE-- January 6, 2023
**As of January 6, 2023, we have reached full capacity for the 2023 Metro Richmond Science & Engineering Fair. Students who have already submitted theit project proposals are asked to continue to check their emails for next steps and further information. We would like to thank everyone who showed interest in competing in the Fair and please continue to check back for information regarding the 2024 Fair!**
PLEASE NOTE- ALL PROJECTS MUST HAVE APPROVAL FROM THE SAFETY REVIEW COMMITTEE (SRC) BEFORE STUDENTS CAN BEGIN THEIR PROJECTS!
Students must complete this Google Form to submit Project proposals. The SRC will communicate whether Projects are approved within 5 business days.
Rules & Guidelines to Follow
The Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair adheres to the rules and guidelines as required by the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). These official rules and guidelines are extremely important and put in place to: 1) protect the rights and welfare of both the student researcher(s) and human participant(s); 2) ensure adherence to federal regulations and safe laboratory practices; 3) protect the environment; and 4) determine the eligibility for competition in the Regeneron ISEF.
Click HERE for more detailed information on rules and guidelines.
In addition to the ISEF rules and guidelines, the following rules and guidelines apply to the Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair:
- All projects must be registered before the deadline
- All Senior projects require the following forms, (follow the instructions during registration on this website):
- Abstract and Research Plan, with a bibliography included
- Checklist for Adult Sponsor Form 1
- Student Checklist Form 1A
- Approval Form 1B
- Approval forms must be signed and if required, reviewed by the Science Review Committee (SRC) before any experimentation can begin
- Additional forms are needed to ensure appropriate supervision and safety of all participants in projects. If you are not sure which additional forms are necessary for your project, visit the ISEF Rules Wizard
- The Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair follows the same process as the ISEF to ensure that participants are qualified for the ISEF. The following Intel ISEF forms constitute written documentation of what will occur, or has already occurred, in a research project. These forms are designed to provide the information that is needed to review the project to ensure compliance with the Intel ISEF rules and the laws and regulations that apply to the project. These forms should be completed and signed before any research takes place. **Only Forms 1C, 7 and the abstract are completed after the research has taken place.** The dates of the signatures reflect when the approval or consent is given.
- See the full ISEF Rules and Regulations for further information.
Safety Review
After completing the ISEF Rules Wizard, if it is determined that your project requires a safety review by the Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair's Scientific Review Committee (SRC), you must submit the required forms and research plan for the SRC to review. Forms can be submitted via the student portal on Zfairs.
Who May Enter
The Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair serves students who attend school districts in Central Virginia's Region 1. These school districts include: Charles City County, Chesterfield County, Colonial Heights, Dinwiddie County, Goochland County, Hanover County, Henrico County, Hopewell, New Kent County, Petersburg City, Powhatan County, Prince George County, Richmond City, Surry County and Sussex County. The Fair is open to students in public, private and parochial schools in Region 1. Home schooled students in Region 1 are also welcome to participate. School participation can be arranged by contacting the Fair Director for more information about qualifying for the Fair.
Competition Division Levels
Senior Division is ONLY for students in grades 9-12
Each Senior Division 1st place winner is eligible to continue on to the Virginia State Science Fair. The top 2 overall Senior Division winners, also referred to as the Grand Award winners, are invited to attend the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
Junior Division is ONLY for students in grades 6-8
Junior Division winners will receive an award and will be eligible to compete in an online competition.
Team Projects
Teams may have no more than 3 members at the start of the project. A team project cannot be later converted to an individual project. A new member cannot join an ongoing team project, but 2 original team members may continue if the 3rd member leaves the team. Each team should appoint 1 team leader, but every member of the team must be fully involved and familiar with all aspects of the project. In addition, each member of the team must be able to serve as a team spokesperson. The final work must reflect the work of the coordinated efforts of all team members. The team must jointly submit 1 research plan (that outlines each team member's tasks/contributions), 1 abstract (must include all team member's names), 1A-Team and 1B forms along with any other forms required by the rules.
About the Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair
Participant Schools
The Region I Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair competition will select winners who will advance to compete at the state level Virginia Science and Engineering Fair. The effort grants VCU oversight for the Region I territory serving 15 counties across Central Virginia which includes: Charles City County, Chesterfield County, Colonial Heights, Dinwiddie County, Goochland County, Hanover County, Henrico County, Hopewell, New Kent County, Petersburg City, Powhatan County, Prince George County, Richmond City, Surry County and Sussex County.
Competition Winners and Awards
The Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair will select up to two Grand Award High School submissions to attend and compete directly at the international level. Middle level winners will advance to a second tier national online competition as well.
About VCU School of Education's Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISTEME)
CISTEME, which is within VCU's School of Education, is excited to lead the effort to manage the Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair.
CISTEME's Mission
The mission of CISTEME is to inspire all students to make sense of and contribute to the
world in which they live through hands-on investigations and innovation in STEM.
CISTEME's Vision
The vision of CISTEME is focused on empowering students, particularly those from underserved and underrepresented populations, and the teachers who serve them, to engage in high impact trans-disciplinary STEM learning experiences and become aware of similarly aligned STEM college and career opportunities.
CISTEME's Goals
- Build capacity, knowledge and skills through innovative strategies to close the skills gap and prepare the STEM workforce of tomorrow for college and career ready students and an informed citizenry.
- Cultivate teachers’ skills through effective models and strategies through “trans-disciplinary” STEM instructional materials and pedagogy informed by educational, corporate and foundation leaders.
- Build a vibrant network that includes educators, businesses, post-secondary institutes, non-profits and community leaders across Virginia to scale and share the learning.
- Infuse culturally relevant educational pedagogies mapped to specific STEM content and examples for classroom application across the disciplines to support under-represented minority students.
- Contribute to the research base in culturally relevant STEM education through external research funding to deliver the goals and objectives for CISTEME.
Message from Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair Team
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Dr. John Fife
Interim Director, Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISTEME)
Associate Professor, STEM Education
Fair Director, Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair
VCU School of Education
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Breonne Shana Brooks
Project Coordinator, Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISTEME)
Fair Coordinator, Metro Richmond Science and Engineering Fair
VCU School of Education
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Public Display
Inform visitors when and where the can go to see the various fair projects.
What to Expect During the Fair
For an in person fair: Participants should not wear clothing or name tags with their name or their school’s name on it or display this information in their reports or exhibits because this information could influence judging.
Participants must stay in assigned areas during the entire judging time except during their assigned lunch break. They may bring quiet activities (electronics, books, cards etc.) to entertain themselves when judges are not interviewing them.
Lunch & Refreshments -- Lunches will be provided at no cost. Participants may also bring their own lunches and any snacks they desire. Students will be released for a scheduled lunch. Refreshments can be consumed when needed, but please not when the judges are present. Concessions will be provided at the event as well.
Judging resumes after lunch. Know your schedule and be prompt.
Animal Sciences
This category includes all aspects of animals and animal life, animal life cycles, and animal interactions with one another or with their environment. Examples of investigations included in this category would involve the study of the structure, physiology, development, and classification of animals, animal ecology, animal husbandry, entomology, ichthyology, ornithology, and herpetology, as well as the study of animals at the cellular and molecular level which would include cytology, histology, and cellular physiology.
Behavioral and Social Sciences
The science or study of the thought processes and behavior of humans and other animals in their interactions with the environment studied through observational and experimental methods.
Biochemistry
The study of the chemical basis of processes occurring in living organisms, including the processes by which these substances enter into, or are formed in, the organisms and react with each other and the environment.
Biomedical and Health Sciences
This category focuses on studies specifically designed to address issues of human health and disease. It includes studies on the diagnosis, treatment, prevention or epidemiology of disease and other damage to the human body or mental systems. Includes studies of normal functioning and may investigate internal as well as external factors such as feedback mechanisms, stress or environmental impact on human health and disease.
Cellular and Molecular Biology
This is an interdisciplinary field that studies the structure, function, intracellular pathways, and formation of cells. Studies involve understanding life and cellular processes specifically at the molecular level.
Chemistry
Studies exploring the science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter not involving biochemical systems.
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Studies that primarily focus on the discipline and techniques of computer science and mathematics as they relate to biological systems. This includes the development and application of data-analytical and theoretical methods, mathematical modeling and computational simulation techniques to the study of biological, behavior, and social systems.
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Studies of the environment and its effect on organisms/systems, including investigations of biological processes such as growth and life span, as well as studies of Earth systems and their evolution.
Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics
Studies that focus on the science and engineering that involve movement or structure. The movement will be a result of forces; the structure will be stable due to the equilibrium of forces.
Materials Science
The study of the integration of various materials forms in systems, devices, and components that rely on their unique and specific properties. It involves their synthesis and processing in the form of nanoparticles, nanofibers, and nanolayered structures, to coatings and laminates, to bulk monolithic, single-/poly-crystalline, glassy, soft/hard solid, composite, and cellular structures. It also involves measurements of various properties and characterization of the structure across length scales, in addition to multi-scale modeling and computations for process-structure and structure-property correlations.
Mathematics
The study of the measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols. The deductive study of numbers, geometry, and various abstract constructs, or structures.
Physics and Astronomy
Physics is the science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two. Astronomy is the study of anything in the universe beyond the Earth.
Plant Sciences
Studies of plants and how they live, including structure, physiology, development, and classification. Includes plant cultivation, development, ecology, genetics and plant breeding, pathology, physiology, systematics and evolution.
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
Studies in which the use of machine intelligence is paramount to reducing the reliance on human intervention. For studies designed for artistic purpose please consider Technology Enahances the Arts (TECA).
Systems Software
The study or development of software, information processes or methodologies to demonstrate, analyze, or control a process/solution.
Technology Enhances the Arts
The use of technology to ignite new concepts, visualization tools and/or media to enhance our enjoyment of the arts.
Translational Medical Science
Projects that aim to improve human health and longevity by translating novel discoveries in the biomedical sciences into effective activities and tools for clinical and public health use. Bi-directional in concept, projects can be those developed through basic research moving toward clinical testing (bench-to-bedside) or projects that provide feedback about the applications of new treatments and how they can be improved (beside-to-bench).
Judge Criteria
Category Awards Criteria:
- the quality of the work done on a project in science, engineering or mathematics by a student, and how well that student understands the project and the area in which he/she has been working. Only secondarily are we evaluating the physical display.
- level of laboratory, field or theoretical work and not just library research or gadgeteering.
- a student’s own work, appropriate for their grade level (and not that of a Ph.D. candidate or a professional)
- a project as compared with the other projects in the same category at this fair
Senior Division Awards Criteria:
I. Creative Ability (25 points)
Does the project show creative ability and originality in:
- the question asked?
- the approach to solving the problem?
- the analysis of the data?
- the interpretation of the data?
- the use of equipment?
- the construction or design of new equipment?
II. Scientific Thought/Engineering Goals (25 points)
Scientific Thought (for scientific projects)
- Is the problem stated clearly?
- Is the problem sufficiently limited so that it was possible to attack it?
- Was there a procedural plan for obtaining a solution?
- Are the variables clearly recognized and defined?
- If controls were necessary, was there a recognition of their need, and were they correctly used?
- Are there adequate data to support the conclusions?
- Are the limitations of the data recognized?
- Does the student understand how his project ties in with related research?
- Does the student have an idea of what further research is indicated?
Engineering Goals (for engineering projects)
- Does the project have a clear objective?
- Does this objective have relevance to the needs of the potential user?
- Is the solution workable?
- Is the solution acceptable to the potential user and economically feasible?
- Can the solution be successfully utilized in design or construction of some end product?
- Does the solution represent a significant improvement over previous alternatives?
- Has the solution been tested to see if it will perform under the conditions of use? (This may be difficult for many students, but it should at least be considered.)
III. Thoroughness (15 points)
- Does the project carry out its purposes to completion within the scope of the original aims?
- How completely has the problem been covered in the project?
- Are the conclusions based on a single experiment, or on replication?
- How much time was spent on the project?
- Is the student familiar with the scientific literature in the field in which he/she was working
IV. Skill (10 points)
- Does the student himself have the skills required to do all the work necessary to obtain the data that support his project?
- Where was the project done? What assistance was received from parents, teachers, scientists, or engineers?
- Was the project carried out under the supervision of an adult, or did the student work largely on his/her own?
- Where did the equipment come from? Did the student build it himself/herself? Was it obtained on loan? Was it part of a laboratory in which the student worked?
V. Clarity (10 points)
- Has the student expressed himself/herself well via the poster content overall?
- Are the important phases of the project presented in the poster in an orderly manner?
- How clearly are the data presented?
- How well does the project display explain itself (narrative, graphs, tables, illustrations)?
- Was all work done by the student, or did the student receive help from an art class or others
VI. Interview (15 points)
- How clearly is the student able to discuss the project?
- Can the student discuss the purpose, procedure and conclusions in a clear manner?