Teachers/Parents Information

Dear Teachers, Parents and Science Fair Organizers,

Welcome to the 28th annual Greater Syracuse Scholastic Science Fair (GSSSF). Below is the information you need to get started as well as the changes made to the format of this year’s fair. The GSSSF is Sunday, March 30, 2008. In-depth information and the online Participant, Teacher and Judge Registrations are also available in these web pages. Please read ALL information carefully and encourage your students and their families to do the same.

1. Verify eligibility. Students must be in grades 5-12. They must live and attend school or home school in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga or Oswego counties. They should be sponsored by their school’s science fair unless the school does not host a science fair. Parents or mentors of students in a school without a science fair or in a school whose science fair occurs after the registration deadline can nominate students and act as their sponsor. This year, students at both the Junior (grades 5-8) and Senior (grades 9-12) levels are able to work as individuals or teams of two. However, because of our current affiliation status with Science Service, Senior level teams are not eligible to be chosen as finalists for the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair.
2. Verify sponsor listing.Teachers and adult sponsors must register online before talking to students. If YOUR NAME is not listed, your students cannot register! If you are a returning teacher, you are already registered and do not need to re-register. Sponsors are able to access their students’ registration forms for editing once the registration has been submitted.
3. Get SRC approval BEFORE experiments begin. If participants in ANY grade require pre-approval for their projects, they must have it BEFORE beginning any experimentation. Who needs pre-approval? You will find examples listed after this letter. The easiest way to handle pre-approval is for schools to form their own Safety Review Committee. (See below about forming an SRC.) If your school cannot form its own SRC, you must make use of the GSSSF’s SRC.  If you are making use of the GSSSF’s SRC, completed paperwork must be received and approved before starting experimentation with a final deadline of Friday, February 1, 2008. Junior Level students need to submit a research plan—the procedure, the risks, any surveys. Senior Level students need to submit all of the required Science Service forms. More information on this is available in the student information Web pages. Any projects that require pre-approval and don’t have it will not be allowed at the GSSSF. SRC approval is there for the safety of the student researcher and any test subjects, whether human or animal.
4. Register students online by Wednesday, March 5, 11:59 p.m. Student participants must register on-line by the deadline. They will not be able to register after March 5. This is an absolute deadline this year. If your school’s science fair is after March 5, you can nominate students to participate in the GSSSF and register them before March 5. However, we ask that you only register those students who will actually participate and not do a mass registration where many students will drop out. No written entries will be accepted. Fill in every field of the Registration Form. Make sure everything is correct; when you hit “submit” the registration is final. Print out the page that comes up after submission. Again, the Registration Deadline is Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. New on the registration pages is the ability to register as a Senior Level team as mentioned above as well as a change in the categories of Science/Engineering topic areas.
5. Completed paperwork is due to the GSSSF by Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Paperwork includes both the print-out of the Registration Form and the below requested paperwork. Incomplete paperwork will not be accepted.

 a.    Junior level (grades 5-8): Complete Adult Sponsor Checklist. Print out and complete the Adult Sponsor Checklist Form from the Web site. If pre-approval was required for their project, the student also needs to submit the research plan.
 b.    Senior level (grades 9-12): Complete ISEF-approved registration. Senior level (grades 9-12) must complete ISEF-approved registration forms along with their online registration (available at www.sciserv.org/isef). Every project requires the following forms: Research Plan, Form 1-Checklist for Adult Sponsor, Form 1A-Student Checklist, Form 1B-Approval Form. Then, depending on the project, other forms may also be required.

If you have any questions, or if I can help you in any way, please email me at <gsssf@most.org>. Participant information concerning Fair Day is located at the web site. However, we will send out a participant information packet this year. I look forward to seeing you and your students at the Science Fair!

Sincerely,

Bobbi Alcock, Director

Projects Needing Pre-approval

Examples of projects that require pre-approval before any experimentation can begin include these:

1. done on humans or vertebrate animals and their tissues or fluids (including surveys);
2. observing or affecting human and animal behavior;
3. involving recombinant DNA, pathogens, controlled substances, or hazardous substances (stronger than household grade) and devices.

Please refer to http://www.sciserv.org/isef/students/rules_regulations.asp for a more detailed listing. Any questions can be directed to me at gsssf@most.org.

Safety Review Committee

The easiest way to have your students’ experiments reviewed before they begin is to organize your own Safety Review Committee (SRC).

An SRC must include:

1. a science teacher;
2. a school administrator;

and at least one of the following:
3. a medical doctor;
4. physician’s assistant;
5. registered nurse;
6. psychiatrist;
7. licensed psychologist;
8. or a licensed social worker.
9. It is recommended that a school’s SRC also include someone familiar with proper animal care procedures (such as a veterinarian) when animal research is involved.

If it is not possible to set up your own SRC, you can make use of the GSSSF’s SRC. Please realize this process may take some time. The sooner the completed paperwork is submitted to the SRC, the faster it can be processed.

Remember, to make use of the GSSSF’s SRC, completed paperwork must be received and approved before starting experimentation with a final deadline of Friday, February 1, 2008.

New Project Categories
Animal Sciences (includes human development)
Behavioral & Social Sciences
Biochemistry
Cellular & Molecular Biology
Chemistry
Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Earth Science (includes planetary science)
Engineering
Energy & Transportation
Environmental Sciences (includes both analysis and management)
Medicine & Health Sciences
Microbiology
Physics & Astronomy
Plant Sciences