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Once you have selected a topic in an area of science in which you have some particular interest, experience or resources available to you, you may begin registration for ScienceMONTGOMERY. The following is a guide. You can also email fairdirector@sciencemontgomery.org to ask questions.
1. Read the ScienceMONTGOMERY rules and guidelines and then the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) rules which apply to your project area. ScienceMONTGOMERY Guidelines for projects generally follow those of Intel ISEF. There are some rules specific to ScienceMONTGOMERY, however, which you should read first. Print any forms you will need from these sites. Some project areas need more forms than others. All students and their parents/guardians MUST sign and date Approval Form 1B before starting any experimentation.
2. Determine in which scientific category your project belongs.
3. If you know that your project involves human subjects, vertebrates or potentially hazardous biological agents (cultured microorganisms, R-DNA, fresh tissue, blood or body fluids, parasites) you will have sections of the rules that apply exclusively to your project. Your research design must be approved by a Review Committee before you begin your work. This committee may be formed at your school, your laboratory, or you may submit your plan to src@sciencemontgomery.org for review. All plans to be reviewed by ScienceMONTGOMERY must be received by December 1. While we will do this review as quickly as possible, it may be as much as a month before you get the results of our review.
4. Log on and register to complete your online registration. Your email address must be used anytime you re-access this registration page, along with a password which will be emailed to you once you have registered. Once you have filled in all required information (marked by * ), click on [Register]. A screen with all your information, and spaces for you and your parent or guardian to sign, will appear. Print this page, sign it and have your parent sign it. You must turn in this page with the other forms on or before the registration deadline in February.
The rules for team projects are different than those for individual projects. Please be sure to read them before you start to register. Teams of 2 or 3 students are allowed. Teams of greater than 3 students are prohibited.
Online registration must be completed before 8 PM on the February registration deadline. Use your password and email address to log on to your online registration if you need to make changes, and to read the SRC Decision box in February.
5. After you have completed the online registration process, you should begin to work on completing the application which consists of several forms. When you have completed your research plan and all forms that are required for your project, send the paperwork along with a $10 per student, non-refundable registration fee to ScienceMONTGOMERY, 4117 Barnsley Lane, Olney MD 20832. Make checks payable to Montgomery Area Science Fair. The paper can also be emailed, in PDF format, to src@sciencemontgomery.org. For MPCS students, this registration packet can be sent via PONY to: ScienceMONTGOMERY, Attn. Jim Douglas c/o Sherwood High School. Sherwood is not a drop-off location. It is only for Pony. All registration packets must have arrived at these addresses on or before the registration deadline in February.
6. The ScienceMONTGOMERY Scientific Review Committee will meet the day after the registration deadline, in February. The results of that review will appear in the SRC Decision Box on your registration page, and will be emailed to you. If you are approved, skip to #6. If there are missing items, they will be listed in the email that is sent to you. You will have approximately 3 weeks to provide any missing requirements (mail to 4117 Barnsley Lane, Olney MD 20832, or email src@sciencemontgomery.org) and still participate in the Fair. Regretfully, those projects which have not met requirements and followed all safety rules, cannot participate in ScienceMONTGOMERY. This decision, too, will appear in the SRC Decision Box.
7. Arrive and set up your project on Friday, at the College Park University of Maryland, Armory Building from 4 to 9 PM. While you are there, a member of the safety committee will inspect your display to see that it meets all requirements (found in the Intel ISEF rules, pages 6-8). Correct any problems they find and get approved for safety. Be sure to bring extra copies of your abstract to leave with your project. Judges like to take copies of these abstracts with them. You will not be allowed to add anything additional to your project on Saturday, so be sure to bring everything with you on Friday. Parents and other guests may view all the projects anytime Friday evening up until 9 PM. This is the only time that projects may be viewed.
You’re ready for a good time. Have fun asking questions of the judges, and talking to your peers about their projects. |
