Science fairs represent an exciting opportunity to do some real science. Instead of just reading about science, students have a chance to design their own experiments and studies and learn first hand how scientists go about answering questions. We hope this experience will inspire you to take an active role in learning more about the world around you.

Here is a link to our Logbook for all grade levels
Science Fair Project Logbook

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR WBRSF 2024!

 The registration deadline for regional fair is Friday. March 8th. The regional science fair is on March 15th and awards ceremony on March 16th.  
    • Information for Friday March 15:
      • Students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 are to arrive at the Grand Ballroom – Shell Place at MacDonald Island Park  at 8:00 AM  for registration. Students register and set-up their projects. They will receive lunch in the Exhibit Hall. Students in Grades 7-12 are staggered so they will arrive at 8:30 AM after the younger students.
      • Parents are welcome to stay with their students during this time but will be asked to leave at 8:45am. The exhibit hall will be closed to everyone except participants, judges and volunteers between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM.
      • Judging will start at 9:00 AM. Judging sessions are between 12-15 minutes, blocked off in 20 minutes time frames.
      • Students will be judged at least 3 times for ranking, and, depending on the special awards they selected, they’ll get more judging sessions. The average will be 5.
      • Fewer judging sessions does not mean a lower score. More judging sessions are often assigned to break ties.
      • Parents of participants are asked to pick up their students by 03:00 PM Parents can arrive at 2:30pm to pick-up their students at the doors to the Exhibit Hall inside the building. We will not allow students to leave the Exhibit Hall without a parent picking them up (without prior consent).
      • Students will be receiving a name tag and t-shirt that they will have to wear (along with a name tag) for the duration of the weekend.
      • Students will food allergies or other dietary considerations will be accommodated.
      • Lunch break will be at 11:20 AM. Kids will be provided pizza (cheese, pepperoni, or garden veggie) and juice. A snack will come later.
      • At 12:00, judging resumes until 3:00, at which point parents can pick up their kids.
      • Kids are encouraged to bring devices to occupy their time, as there will be a good bit of downtime.
      Information for Saturday March 16:
      • All students are to arrive prior to 9:00am.
      • The doors will open for public and media viewing at 9:00am.
      • The public showcase timings are from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
      • Students can visit other projects but are encouraged to stay near their own projects to explain and share their learning with the parents and public touring the projects!
      • The Awards Ceremony will be from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM.
      • There will be no lunch served on Saturday, we hope to have students out of there by 1:00pm.

PROJECT AND REGISTRATION CHECKLIST

 Carefully read the WBRSF Fair Rules , Safety Regulations and Human Subject and Animal Ethics Guidelines before beginning your project.
Decide on a topic and plan to begin your project early to ensure that you have enough time to finish before entering the Regional Fair or your school fair. See our links page for project ideas and advice.
If you choose to perform a project that includes doing research with human volunteers, you must submit an Application to Perform Research with Human Subjects. If you will be doing experimentation on animals; or working with recombinant DNA; viruses; human or animal DNA, tissues or bodily fluids; or potentially pathogenic organisms you must submit an Application to perform Research with DNA, Biological Agents, or Animals . These applications  must receive the approval of the WBRSF Safety and Ethics Committee before you begin your project. An Informed Consent Form must be completed by any human subject that participates in your study, survey, or experiment.
Register your project with the WBRSF using the online registration system (students participating in school fairs must first be chosen as finalists in order to be eligible to attend the WBRSF).
Print off the consent (signature) form that was generated for you by the online registration system and mail it to the WBYSF, along with your registration fee, by the indicated deadline
Arrive at the Fair on time with your registration number and project.

SAFETY AND ETHICS

It is very important that you read and understand the Fair Rules , Safety Regulations and Human Subject and Animal Use Guidelines before beginning your project. These rules are in place to protect you, protect visitors to the fair, and to protect the rights of human or animal subjects used in science fair experiments. Scientists must follow similar rules when they do their own research. Read these guidelines carefully and have your parents or teacher explain any parts that you don’t understand.

Participants are permitted to work with potentially hazardous materials provided the research is done following the appropriate regulations and with adequate supervision.  Potentially hazardous materials, however, must not be exhibited at the Science Fair. This includes chemicals, flammable materials, firearms, animals, animal and human tissues or bodily fluids, and microbial cultures. If you work with these materials, you may wish to document your results with photographs or simulate your experimental set-up for display purposes using safe look-alike substances (for example, you might substitute water for ethanol if you wish to demonstrate a technique for a judge).

Projects which do not meet our safety or ethics guidelines will be disqualified at the Fair. It is your responsibility to ensure that your project meets our guidelines and that, if required, you have applied for project approval before beginning your research. If you are uncertain as to whether your project requires preapproval or meets our exhibit regulations, please contact WBRSF Judge-in-Chief Akshaya Lakshmi.

Our safety and ethics guidelines are modeled after guidelines developed by Youth Science Canada and other national and international science fair organizations. If you are concerned that your project may not meet the guidelines of the Canada-Wide Science Fair, please consult the links below:

Human Subject and Animal Use Guidelines

Safety Regulations

Informed Consent Form

Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

JUDGING

A minimum of three judges will visit your project. Our Elementary Judging Rubric and Junior-Senior Judging Rubric outline what they will be looking for in your project. The judges will want to see that you have been keeping careful notes and records of your research. You should organize your rough notes in a logbook. Your logbook can be a journal or three-ring binder, or you may wish to download and print off a Science Fair Project Logbook.

Please view this Preparing for Judging Tips Video from the CWSF. 

 JUDGING PROCESS

Special Awards

Each year, WBYSF awards projects that meet a certain criteria in a specific field or aspect of science. All Special Awards hold a cash prize value and a commemorative plaque engraved with the winner’s name(s). The cash prize value is: $250

Students are encouraged to self-nominate their project for these awards, though a preliminary screening is performed on all projects that may or may not have self-nominated to ensure that all projects worthy of consideration for each award are afforded their due.

Judging for Special Awards occurs in the second half of the afternoon and these are scheduled visits.

Divisional Awards

Divisional awards recognize the top scientists in each Grade Category. The judging process is a ranking process. Each project is judged by 4 judges. Each judge looks at a set of 8 projects and ranks them accordingly. The project rankings are then tabulated to reveal the top projects in each category. In each grade category, we award the following medals:

•          1 Gold Medals (including $500 cash)

•          2 Silver Medals (including $250 cash)

•          3 Bronze Medals (including $100 cash)

On judging day, the student will present the project to a panel of judges remotely via MS Teams or zoom link. There will only be presentation per student for all divisional and special prizes.

After the judge has met with each of the projects in the set, the projects are ranked and submitted to the Judging Coordinator. The Judging Coordinator then identifies a smaller subset of projects for closer examination. 

The Rounds

Divisional Judging will kick off right away to allow buffer room at the end for Judging Coordinators to set judging teams to look at any ties or discrepancies.