The logistics of setting up the fair are enormous and require detailed floor mapping to determine the amount of space needed for each grade level and category of projects displayed. Adding to this the fact that the Fair is actually set up and, halfway through the week, re-setup as the Elementary Division of the weeks beginning melts into the Secondary Division of the weeks end.

The Fair begins, as do many similar events, as a blank palette awaiting the birth of the event. The birth of The Greater St. Louis Science Fair starts as a large open arena area within the Greensfelder Recreational Center of Queeny Park in west St. Louis County. The arena area which houses the Fair is 20,900 square feet and will accommodate as many as 3,500 visitors. Each year The Greater St. Louis Science Fair fills this area with over 3000 projects representing the work of 5,000 plus students from St. Louis City and St. Louis County schools. Yearly, 290-315 individual schools send projects to this largest Regional Science Fair in the world.

A commercial mover delivers the tables and Fair equipment.

These table units are set up into 28 - 30 two-sided rows to accommodate the projects for a single Division.

Once set up on the floor maping grid they are covered with brown paper and individual project spaces, of 67cm width, are marked off along the length of each row. Once completed the fair display area covers virtually the entire 20,900 square foot area of the Greensfelder Recreational Complex arena area. During viewing times the isles are often crowded with visiting parents and interested members of the public. Some schools use the viewing days as a field trip for science classes allowing students to see a broad range of science and scientific work by their peers.

From mid-fair you can see the 19 foot Science Fair banner being attached to the front of the arena area. As time for the opening of the first day approaches an administrative area is set up at the front end of the fair just below the Science Fair banner.

Here, a system of 3 - 5 computers is available to manage the Fair entry and scoring data. Fair volunteers manage the computers as students, with the help of parents or teachers, begin to arrive for the check in and set-up phase. For the next six and a half hours there is a steady flow of projects - checking in, setting up and doing final checks to make sure they are just right and ready for the judges.

Here we see students assembling their display boards and doing final checks before placing the project on the fair display floor.

The Greater St. Louis Science Fair is a matrix of science, logistics, technology, team work and just plane fun. Many of the people who volunteer have done so for years and often volunteer with friends or family members - finding the experience one that is both interesting and rewarding - a way of making a connection with students and their possible future in some area of science or technology.

Many of the volunteers that return each year had their first experiences with The Greater St. Louis Science Fair as exhibiting students.

Along with the Fair's major corporate sponsors - The Monsanto Fund and Pfizer-St. Louis - many professionals from local universities and corporations find The Greater St. Louis Science Fair a worthwhile endeavor and commit their personal time each year to act as judges and mentors.

Under the umbrella of its parent organization, The Academy of Science of St. Louis, the Fair continues to be a venue of authentic science for students in grades Kindergarten through twelfth grade - and, an opportunity for a few students each year to qualify and participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Additionally, students from all grades have the opportunity two win special recognition from the host of business that judge and present Special Awards to outstanding projects in very specific areas of science. Along with this, all students in grades 5 through 8 are eligible to receive Discovery Awards - presented on behalf of Discovery Communications, Inc. in partnership with Science Service - this award is an opportunity for these middle school students to compete with their projects in a national science competition through the Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge.

All of this becomes available after the painstaking work of some 250-300 volunteer judges that donate time for each of the two Fair divisions. On Monday and Thursday evenings, the judging days for the Elementary Division (projects from grades Kindergarten through fifth grade) and the Secondary Division (projects from sixth through twelfth grade), judging begins with a complimentary Judges meal - many of whom come directly from work to begin the judging process - and ends often in the very late evening hours or wee hours of the morning.

Judging involves using a Project Scoring Rubric (a specific judging rubric for each type of display - Collections, Experiments, Inventions, Models, and Observations) and the time it takes to read and understand what the student is saying and depicting. Most judges take between 7 and 12 projects each .. and each project is judged by two independent judges. This all takes time and energy and the work of the judges is both important and much appreciated. A judges individual results are then turned into specific Judging Chairpersons, responsible for one or several grade level results, who then enter the individual scores from the printed rubrics into a computer program that will later be imported into the Fair's management dB system which will average scores, assign ribbons based on the particular fair division ribbon scoring breakdown, and look for inconsistencies.

All of the judging and scoring is then certified by the fair division chairperson and at that point information is then placed on the web site and provided to the Special Awards chairperson for consideration for special awards and Discovery awards.

The Greater St. Louis Science Fair, The Academy of Science of St. Louis and major Fair sponsors The Monsanto Fund and Pfizer-St. Louis would like to thank all of those people who volunteer to make the fair a success!

Student volunteers ... Thanks!