Awards

Outstanding Science Poster Awards

 

To recognize the effort students put into exploring STEM ideas and creating their posters, we are continuing the Outstanding Science Poster Awards this year. These awards honor individual students or teams whose projects demonstrate strong thinking, creativity, and clear communication.

​

Students who choose to participate in the judged category will have their posters evaluated by adult judges during the fair. Winners will be announced the following week at morning assembly.

 

Poster Evaluation Guidelines

 

The following guidelines will be used when the judges evaluate the posters.

 

• ​Purpose or problem​

  • Is the purpose clear? 

  • Is the problem stated clearly as a question?

  • Does the problem connect logically to the investigation, research, or design?

 

• Hypothesis/possible solutions

  • For "Collections", "Research", and "Experiment" categories

    • Is the hypothesis complete? Is it testable and clearly addresses the stated problem?

    • Is it testable and logically connected to the stated problem?

    • Does it show thoughtful reasoning about what the student expects to happen and why?

 

• For "Invention" and "Environmental Innovation" categories 

  • Does the poster propose one or more practical solution(s)?

  • Do the possible solutions provide sufficient description for the audience to understand?

  • Does the student demonstrate creativity and logical thinking in developing the solution(s)?

 

• For "Reverse Engineering" category 

  • Does the poster illustrate how the student thinks the device should work?

  • Are logical explanations provided?

  • If appropriate, does the student consider more than one possible way the device could function?

​​

• Investigation, Research, or Design Process

 

• For projects in "Collection" category

  • Is the shown collection organized in more than one way to show relationships between the items collected?

  • Does the organization help answer the hypothesis?

  • Does the student explain what the collection shows?

 

• For projects in "Research" and "Experiment" categories 

  • Does the poster cite 1 or more sources from different resources for research?

  • Does the student clearly connect the research to the problem and hypothesis?

  • Doees the student explain the reasoning behind the results?

 

• For "Invention" category ​

  • Does the student clearly describe how the invention works?

  • Are important design features explained?

  • Does the poster provide an analysis of obstacles as well as functional design of the invention (e.g. durability, strength, ease of use)?

 

• For "Environmental Innovation" category  

  • Does the student provide clear steps/stages/phases on how to solve the problem?

  • Do these steps demonstrate creativity and thoroughness?

  • Is there a clear timeline that outlines when the steps/stages/phases should happen?

  • Are pictures/diagrams used?

 

• For "Reverse Engineering" category  

  • Does the poster include in-depth analysis of how the device work?

  • Does it include explanations of critical parts?

  • Are pictures/diagrams and words used to describe how each part is attached to the device?

  • Does the poster identify the various engineers, scientists, and product designers needed to design and produce the device?

 

• ​Conclusion

  • Does the conclusion address the problem?

  • Does it state if the hypothesis is supported or rejected, and why?

 

• Overall quality and presentation skills

• Is the poster appealing and readable? Is it organized and clear? Does it use understandable visuals?​

• Is the student present at the poster and is willing to discuss the project and answer questions?​

 

​

Crowd Favorite Awards 

These awards are determined by popular vote. Students and their parents have the opportunity to vote for their favorite science posters, and the projects with the most votes receive this special recognition. This award celebrates the entries that resonate most with the audience.

​

 

Certificate of Participation

​

As a way to thank the students for getting hands on with STEM, each participant will also be rewarded with a "Certificate of Participation". 

​​

​

Raffle

 

To encourage conversations during the poster presentations, each student audience will receive "STEM Conversation Sheets" which should be completed for every single poster conversations the student has. Students can show their completed sheets for a chance to enter their names into the raffle. The more sheets they complete, the more chances to win!