Dear Judges,
Welcome and thank you for choosing to be a judge at the Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair. You are going to have a great time seeing and hearing about the amazing work of these students. On the address label of the card you received in mid-March confirming you as a judge is your judge level code: “S” for Senior Level, “J” for Junior Level, and “SP” for Special Awards. Experienced judges, who have been chosen to be team captains, have “TC” following the judge level code. You will receive your team assignments at Check-In.
This year’s science fair is Sunday, March 30 at Solvay High School
in Syracuse. Free parking is available at Solvay High School. Box lunches are
provided for judges and a stand is open for snacks and beverages. Because the
GSSSF is completely funded by the community and we would like to concentrate
most of our resources on the students, donations for lunch are appreciated to
help us defray costs. Also, you may find it helpful to bring a pen or pencil
and a clipboard (or other hard writing surface).
Objectives of the fair and the judging process
• To encourage students to continue their pursuit of science, engineering and medicine.
• To provide students with a forum to showcase their science and engineering research.
• To encourage students to return to the science fair in upcoming years.
Judging Procedure
• BEFORE judging, you can walk through and view all the projects on your list to get a sense of the range of projects. Please do not talk to the students during this time. Avoid comparing your students to those in other grade levels.
• Interview students ONE JUDGE AT A TIME. Keep your time with each student limited to 10-15 minutes. (You have more students to judge and other judges need to meet that student.)
• Shake hands and identify yourself as a judge, allow the student to introduce him/herself, and then open judging with “tell me about your project.”
• Allow the student to give the prepared oral description of the project (about three-to-five minutes). Encourage the student to get the entire story out before you begin to ask questions.
• Engage in a conversation during which you ask questions about such things as why they selected the topic, how long they worked on the project, what their plans are for future research as well as questions that encourage the student to clarify what she/he did. Don’t hesitate to ask questions that help you determine the limits of their background knowledge or help you to understand how the student worked with parents or mentors. You may also ask questions to clarify how independent and self-motivated the student was throughout the project.
• You should ask to see an abstract, written paper, research logbook and bibliography.
• At the end of the interview, shake hands, congratulate the student on his/her work and say goodbye.
• Do not record ratings or complete the Judge Tally Card in front of the student. Use the Judging Rubric to rate the students. You will also find it helpful to take notes about your impressions, which you can use during judge deliberations.
Issues
• What importance is the exhibit display?
The exhibit gives a visual of the research the student conducted and acts as
a tool for both the student and the judge. Although the exhibit is important,
it is not as important as the student’s understanding of his/her research
and ability to communicate.
• Why is the question-and-answer period the most
important part of the interview? The Q & A will give you a feeling for how
independent the student was and how well they understood the project.
• How much ownership do the students have for their
work? Ideally, the student should have generated the project idea and be an active
participant in all aspects of the project. The work and conclusions should be
their own.
• What are the roles of mentors and parents? Ideally, mentors and parents are only assistants. If the student is working with dangerous items, adult supervision or the adult sometimes doing the experiment is required. Also, in some laboratory settings, the mentor is required to do the experiment. In both of these circumstances, the student should be present for the experiment and any work thereafter should be the responsibility of the student. Parents and mentors should not have done literature reviews, data manipulation, conclusions, or display work.
• What is original research to these age groups?
Original research is either something that has never been done before or is a
twist on an already established scientific or engineering principle. Original
research is not required of a project, but it can earn the student up to two
bonus points. However, you are looking for actual experimentation being conducted.
Demonstrating a scientific or engineering principle without any experimentation
is not considered research.
• Why can’t every student win an award? The
science fiar is a competition, one that allows for advancement to other competitions
(ISEF, Science Congress, Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge) and a variety
of special awards. Each student does, however, receive a Certificate of Participation.
Judging Team Deliberations
Once you have interviewed all the students on your list, the judge team meets to discuss the projects. Judging projects and selecting award winners is subjective. The Judging Rubric acts as a guideline for what award levels should look like. Remember to use your score sheets and notes only as a guide in helping your judge team discuss the subjective merits of the students and their work.
Let each member of the team give her/his reflections about each student. Remember that the students are nervous and learn from each of you, so the first judge to interview a student will get a very different presentation and impression from the last judge in your group.
Review the list of items for which each student must be scored. Student work must go beyond a report of the literature that the student has read or a plan for future work. The winning projects must include an investigation or experiment where the student analyzed or manipulated data to test a hypothesis or an engineering objective and come to a conclusion or summary. The students may have collected the data directly or they may have been able to use pre-existing data sets (such as medical, weather, historical or climate records). The students must then have manipulated, organized, graphed or mapped the data to show a previously unseen or untested relationship or pattern that relates to their hypothesis or engineering objective. While replication of existing experiments is an important part of scientific research and a valuable learning experience, projects that only demonstrate an established principle or procedure should be rated below more original inquiries.
Senior Level Second Round of Judging
In order to select the top five overall high school winners to receive trip awards, judge team captains will be asked to interview the Senior Level Highest Honors winners. The second round will start as soon as the initial judging group decisions have been submitted. These judges will interview the students in small groups and then convene to select the top five winners. The top two winners will represent our region at the International Science and Engineering Fair this May in Atlanta, Georgia. It is very important that we select two students whose projects meet ALL of the criteria of the Judging Rubric as well as meet all of the rules and paperwork requirements of the ISEF Scientific Review Committee. The third through fifth place students will advance to the New York State Science Congress this June.
Awards
If your group wishes to ask for assistance in clarifying the judging criteria or goals, please ask a member of the judging committee to assist you.
Do not submit a final awards score card for your group if any of the following are true:
* you have selected no one for a Highest Honor medallion
* you have selected all students to receive a medal
If your judging team arrives at either of these conditions, consult a member of the judge committee for assistance BEFORE submitting your final decision. We need to verify your conclusions.
In the Junior Level (5th -8th grade), approximately 10% of the participating students will be selected for the Discovery Channel Young Scientist top award.
Awards Form Caution! Errors Hurt Students
Each judging team must complete the awards form and hand it in to Awards Processing no later than 4:30 p.m. Every student must be marked as either an award winner, no award given or absent. Before submitting the awards form take time to carefully review the entire list of students and confirm your decisions. With over 300 students and hundreds of awards, recording errors happen every year and they lead to very unfortunate situations for students and fair volunteers. In your final review, poll the judge team by describing each of your students by name and by project description to confirm that you are giving awards to the students/projects that you intend to. Do not hesitate to consult with a fair official if you are having trouble coming to consensus or completing the form.
Judging "Do’s and Don'ts"
• Keep in mind that competing in a science fair is not only a
competition but also an educational and motivating experience for the participants.
The high point of the fair experience for most of the participants is the judging
interviews. Be encouraging to all the participants.
• As a general rule, judges represent professional authority
to finalists. For this reason, you should use an encouraging tone when asking
questions, offering suggestions or giving constructive criticism. Do NOT criticize,
treat lightly or display boredom toward projects you consider personally unimportant.
THE PROJECT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PARTICIPANT. Always give credit for completing
a challenging task and/or for their success in previous competitions. Thank the
participant for his or her hard work and accomplishment.
• Please be discreet when discussing winners or making critical
comments in non-evaluation areas (such as the exhibit halls, lobbies and stairways),
as participants or adult escorts may overhear. Results are confidential until
announced at the awards ceremony.
If you are a registering exhibitor go to and print the Registration Checklist to help with the registration process. The above links will take you back to the museum's regular Web Site.