Judging Criteria
This year all the students have the option of being judged, but only grades 3-8 will be able to be part of the competition. Students in K through 2 will interact with judges and receive feedback, but there will be no formal competition. The competition is voluntary; students do not have to compete or be judged if they don’t wish to, but we do encourage every student to speak with the judges as most kids report that this is the highlight of the fair for them.
A first prize is awarded in each grade from grade 3-8, and there may also be a few special judges’ awards. Each grade is judged separately. Multi-student projects from different grades are classified according to the grade of the oldest participant. The total number of awards will not be more than one-quarter of the number of projects in that grade. A major component of the score is the quality of the presentation (both physical and verbal). Home-built models carry more weight than commercial kits. Since novelty and creativity are important, there may be fair-wide awards for different criteria such as: the most beautiful project, the funniest, the most disgusting, and most unusual, etc.
Proposed judging criteria:
Oral Presentation 30%
Creativity 30%
Scientific Excellence 30%
Poster 10%
Bonus: Organized log book (or journal)
For a more detailed description of how to judge, please consult this Regional Fair Judging Guideline.
A first prize is awarded in each grade from grade 3-8, and there may also be a few special judges’ awards. Each grade is judged separately. Multi-student projects from different grades are classified according to the grade of the oldest participant. The total number of awards will not be more than one-quarter of the number of projects in that grade. A major component of the score is the quality of the presentation (both physical and verbal). Home-built models carry more weight than commercial kits. Since novelty and creativity are important, there may be fair-wide awards for different criteria such as: the most beautiful project, the funniest, the most disgusting, and most unusual, etc.
Proposed judging criteria:
Oral Presentation 30%
Creativity 30%
Scientific Excellence 30%
Poster 10%
Bonus: Organized log book (or journal)
For a more detailed description of how to judge, please consult this Regional Fair Judging Guideline.
Restricted Materials
Some things just aren't appropriate for an elementary or middle school science fair project. See an extracted list of materials that a Science Fair project may not involve at any stage.
For additional details, please consult manual for the Massachusetts State Fair Manual.
Prohibited items:
• Blood products, fresh tissue, teeth or bodily fluids
• Nonhuman vertebrate animals and their parts, exception eggs
• Ingestion or inhalation of any substance by humans subjects (no smelling or chewing of ANYTHING)
• Pathogenic agents*
• Recombinant DNA
• Carcinogenic or mutagenic chemicals
• Compressed gas (including, but not limited to CO2)
• Controlled substances
• Explosive chemicals
• Hazardous substances or devices (including, but not limited to BB guns, paint ball guns, potato cannons, air cannons)
• High voltage equipment
• Highly toxic chemicals
• Lasers (any strength)
• Ionizing radiation X-rays or nuclear energy
• Radioactive materials (except non-ionizing, naturally occurring materials)
For additional details, please consult manual for the Massachusetts State Fair Manual.
Prohibited items:
• Blood products, fresh tissue, teeth or bodily fluids
• Nonhuman vertebrate animals and their parts, exception eggs
• Ingestion or inhalation of any substance by humans subjects (no smelling or chewing of ANYTHING)
• Pathogenic agents*
• Recombinant DNA
• Carcinogenic or mutagenic chemicals
• Compressed gas (including, but not limited to CO2)
• Controlled substances
• Explosive chemicals
• Hazardous substances or devices (including, but not limited to BB guns, paint ball guns, potato cannons, air cannons)
• High voltage equipment
• Highly toxic chemicals
• Lasers (any strength)
• Ionizing radiation X-rays or nuclear energy
• Radioactive materials (except non-ionizing, naturally occurring materials)