The Academy of Science - St. Louis Science Fair

Science-Technology-Engineering-Math

Inquiry-Based Learning at it's Best!

Welcome to the Fair

HONORS DIVISION    

2022

 

HONORS DIVISION - OVERVIEW
The Honors Division of the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair is a collegiate level quality research study competition for Grades 9-12 by students living in or enrolled in St. Louis City or St. Louis County schools.  Students self-select in with teacher approval.

 

AWARDS
The top judged project, also meeting all requirements for ISEF and as determined by the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair judges, will be announced by the Academy of Science - St. Louis and will represent the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair at the virtual section of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May, 2022.

The name of the #1 student will be announced and posted to the science fair website on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

All Honors Division projects will be automatically submitted into the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair K-12 and considered for Special Awards. Awards will be announced and posted to the science fair website on
May 3, 2022.

 

HONORS DIVISION - ELIGIBILITY

• Open to students in grades 9-12 who live in or are enrolled in the St. Louis City or St. Louis County schools (public/private/parochial/home school).
• Open to students who have completed advanced-level research and self-select in with teacher recommendation and approval.
• Students must work individually, no teams or group projects will be accepted.
• Students must NOT have reached age 20 on or before May 1, 2022

 

REGISTRATION DEADLINES

SCHOOL REGISTRATION
Teachers must register the school BEFORE 12:00 PM CST (NOON), Friday, December 10, 2021

STUDENT REGISTRATION
Student registration deadline is BEFORE
12:00 PM CST (NOON), Wednesday
December 15, 2021

STUDENT UPLOAD
Students need to upload their project by the upload deadline BEFORE 12:00 PM CST (NOON), February 15, 2022

 

HERE’S ALL THE THINGS:

RULES AND REQUIREMENTS

APPROVALS:
IMPORTANT! – Do NOT start your research project until your project has been approved by your teacher. More details below.

After the school is registered and the teacher has approved and recommended the student, student needs to submit all completed, signed forms (see below). Be sure safety forms are signed BEFORE you begin your research.

 

Additional Approvals:  Projects involving human subjects and vertebrate animals need approval by a Scientific Review Committee or Institutional Review Board

• If you are working in an institutional lab, your mentor will sign as the SRC/IRB PRIOR to experimentation.
• If you are working in a school or at home, you science teacher will sign as the IRB Prior to experimentation. The teacher will head up a school IRB which will consist of the science teacher, a school administrator (principal or vice principal) and a medical or mental health professional (which may be a medical doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, doctor, registered nurse, psychologist, licensed social worker). The medical or mental health professional on the IRB may change depending on the nature of the study. This person must be knowledgeable about and capable of evaluating the physical and/or psychological risk involved in a given study.
• IMPORTANT: AFTER IRB APPROVAL AT THE SCHOOL OR LAB, all projects COMPLETED AT HOME OR IN A SCHOOL INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS OR VERTEBRATE ANIMALS NEEDS THE APPROVAL OF JESSICA WINKLER ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) PRIOR TO EXPERIMENTATION.
  
  

HUMAN STUDIES
IMPORTANT FOR 2022:

• Projects studying bullying/depression/anxiety will NOT be allowed.
  Instead, student may submit a research paper where students can study RELIABLE DATA. NO SURVEY OR INTERVIEWING OF students will be allowed regarding bullying/depression/anxiety
• No projects allowed that can cause potential harm to humans
• Human subjects (and parents for anyone under age 18) need to sign a permission form – (see ISEF rules wizard for sample)
• Students need to provide teacher with research plan prior to experimentation

 

ANIMALS
No animals (this includes invertebrates) should be harmed or caused pain.

BACTERIA/VIRUS/FIRE/HAZARDOUS MATERIALS/POWER TOOLS
IMPORTANT FOR 2022
Projects will NOT be allowed that handle, test, or sample bacteria, virus, mold, fire (or burning objects) or hazardous materials. Power tools can only be handled by parent/guardian or teacher. Students may submit instead a research paper where students study reliable data. (Again, NO handling, sampling or testing of bacteria, virus, mold, fire (or burning objects) or hazardous materials allowed). NO testing water fountains, door handles, cell phones, etc.

 

NO GUNS/DRUGS ALCOHOL
NO experiments will be allowed using firearms. No guns or firearms or bow and arrows of any kind. No Nerf guns or Nerf bow and arrows. No slingshots. Experiments using prescription drugs, illegal drugs or alcohol will NOT be allowed.

 

STUDENT REGISTRATION

Q. What does it take to be registered?
A. Student registration is a two-step process.

1. 1. 1. Send one (1) email with PDFs attached with all completed and signed required forms (details below) to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it anytime before the deadline of 12:00 PM CST (NOON), December 15, 2021
      2. Complete the online registration at sciencefairstl.org under student registration before the deadline of 12:00 PM CST (NOON), December 15,2021. You will need the school registration password (get this from your science teacher) to register.

 

Q. What forms do I need?

• 2022 Honors Division entry application (completed and signed by your teacher) then scan as a PDF and save.

• Required ISEF forms as determined by the rules wizard. The ISEF "rules wizard" has been designed as a first step to help you determine what forms and approvals are necessary before beginning your science fair project. Some projects will require addtional forms, but ALL projects require:

  • Form 1: Checklist for Adult Sponsor
  • Form 1A: Student Checklist accompanied by a complete Research Plan/Project Summary
  • Form 1B: Approval Form

Print out required forms, complete, sign, scan and save as PDFs

• After you have the Honors Division entry application and all of the forms from the “rules wizard,” printed out, completed, signed and saved as PDFs, send  one (1) email with all the PDFs to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  with the subject line: Honors Division Student Registration Forms before the deadline of 12:00 PM CST (NOON), December 15, 2021.
  Note, e-mail as a PDF only, google docs and jpg pictures of the forms not accepted.
  
  
  • Note: In this ONE (1) email you should have:
  1. 1. Honors Division entry application
     2. ALL of the forms from the rules wizard including:
     • The abstract of your project (which is a short description of your research)
     • Your research plan (which is a description of the steps that you will take to complete your research including all safety precautions)
     • Student Checklist (1A)
     • Approval Form (1B)
     • Checklist for Adult Sponsor

PROJECT UPLOAD

Q. When do I upload my project?

A. You can upload your project anytime before deadline of 12:00 PM CST (NOON), Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Q. How do I upload my project?
A. Go to science fair website (https://sciencefairstl.org), click on Student Project Registration > Verify/Edit A Previous Registration, or Upload E-Fair Files

You will upload:

• Up to 10 pages for your poster as a PowerPoint
• Up to 10 pages for your logbook – can be PowerPoint or Word doc

 

 RULES AND FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs):

Q. May I upload videos?
A. NO videos will be accepted.

Q. May I list my name and/or the name of my school in my upload (PowerPoint or log book)?
A. NO student or school names should be included.

Q. May I have pictures of faces in my upload (PowerPoint or logbook)?
A. NO pictures of faces should be included in your upload.

Q.  May I upload a Google doc?
A.  NO (Download the Google doc to your desktop as a PDF document, then upload the PDF)

Q.  May I submit a research paper instead of a PowerPoint presentation?
A.  YES, however if your project is the number one project in the honors division then you will be required to complete a virtual display per the ISEF guidelines in order to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair.

COMPLIANCE (Link to ISEF rules)
All projects in the Honors Division must adhere to any additional rules set forth by the International Science and Engineering Fair and the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair. Be sure to read and abide by the ISEF rules as well as the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair local rules listed below.  

OTHER SCIENCE FAIRS
Students entering the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair may NOT also enter a Science Fair in a neighboring community. For example, if you enter the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair, you may NOT also compete in the Mastodon Science fair or other science fairs.

# OF PROJECTS
Students may only submit 1 project to the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair.

RESEARCH PERIOD
Each project must cover research done over a maximum of 12 continuous months between February 15, 2021 and February 15, 2022. We are NOT allowing continuation projects from previous research.

TEAM PROJECTS
IMPORTANT FOR 2022 Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair Honors Division - Students may NOT work in teams. Each project submitted will be an individual project with one (1) student on each project.

EYE PROTECTION
Safety glasses must be used for any experiments if any kind of splash or particles may come in contact with your eyes.

JUDGING

• Projects will be judged virtually based on the project uploaded to the science fair website. The Academy of Science will recruit the judges from regional scientists and lead the Honors Division judge team.
• Judging will take place virtually from February 24 until Noon, February 28, 2022. The projects will be judged from the project upload. There will not be student interviews. 
• Judges will follow the scoring rubric.
  

SCORING RUBRICS  – CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOADABLE PDF

ANNOUNCEMENT
The top judged project, also meeting all requirements for ISEF and as determined by the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair judges, will be announced by the Academy of Science - St. Louis and will represent the Academy of Science – St. Louis Science Fair at the virtual section of the ISEF Science Fair in May, 2022. The name of the student with the #1 top project will be announced and posted to the website on
Wednesday, March 2, 2022



If you have questions, contact your science teacher or Jessica Winkler.

 

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DEADLINES

SCHOOL needs to register the school before 12:00 PM CST (NOON), December 10, 2021

STUDENT needs to register before 12:00 PM CST (NOON), December 15, 2021

STUDENT needs to upload their project before 12:00 PM CST (NOON), February 15, 2022