|
This page
provides a summary of the critical information regarding the 2010
Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair.
|
| What is the Virtual Science Fair? |
• The Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair is an annual online science and technology contest open to all Canadian students in grades K-12. |
| What Students Do |
• Students, individually or in teams, create a science related project then build a website to display their work. • The science project may take a variety of forms including experiments, research studies, demonstrations, models, and construction projects. • All projects must be displayed on a interesting, informative, interactive and engaging website hosted on the VSF server. • All teams are provided with an account on the VSF server. • Students are encourage to make use of new media technologies such as video, Flash, and images. |
| Important Notes for 2010 |
• A file named index.htm must be the top/main/first page of your project. • Filenames must not contain spaces or other symbols such as French accents. • Filenames can contain only letters of the English alphabet, numerals and the underscore _ • The address of your website will be www.virtualsciencefair.org/2010/userid where "userid" is provided after registration • The project web server is not case sensitive but you should still use only lower case letters in filenames. This is in case we later move the projects to a server that is case sensitive with respect to filenames. • Use "Relative Links" not "Absolute Links"in your projects. • Students are encouraged to personally create the content of their websites. This includes images, drawings, animations etc. In cases where this is not possible, the images etc. must be properly referenced. • Teachers with more than one registered team must be willing to do some prejudging of their teams projects. |
| What Teachers Do - Lots or Little |
• What a teacher does after registering and providing the Teacher Registration Number to the students is entirely the teacher's choice. Some teachers have very little further involvement. • Others use the VSF as a component of their course and are involved in every step of the project. • Many teachers find the experience a significant professional growth opportunity for themselves, particularly if they are not experienced with computer/Internet activities. Many include their work on the project in their profession growth plans for the year. The experience is a rewarding professional development experience. |
| Dates |
|
•
Projects due April 30, 2010
• Registration closes March 1, 2010. |
| Participants |
|
• All
Canadian students enrolled in Grades K - 12 may participate.
• Home schoolers and students from outside Canada may participate as well. Contact Larry larry@virtualsciencefair.comfor more information. |
Cost |
• There is absolutely no charge to participate. |
| Registration Categories |
|
•
There are 4 grade
level categories: K - 3, 4 - 6, 7 - 9, 10 - 12.
• There are 6 subject categories available. See Categories. • Teams may consist of any number of members. |
| Registration Procedures |
|
• All
registration is done online.
• The teacher registers first and receives a Teacher Registration Number. • The Team Captain may register the team once the captain has received the Teacher Registration number from the supervising teacher. • The teacher will be emailed list of registered teams/students along with their VSF web server userids and passwords. • Homeschooled students may participate. Parents of homeschooled students should contact larry@virtualsciencfair.com regarding registration. |
| Awards |
|
•
The awards vary each year depending upon the donations from sponsors, which are often not finalized until April.
• For 2006 the awards consisted of approximately $28,000 in cash • For 2005 the awards consisted of approximately $24,000 in cash and $15,000 in merchandise awards. The awards varied from $15 and a certificate to $1000 plus a HP camera and printer. • The awards for 2009 totaled about $18,000. |
| The First Steps |
|
•
Review the projects from past years for ideas. Do not be intimidated by the sophistication of some of the winning projects. A simple project can be as effective as the more complex projects.
• Teachers and students should be review the Rules and Help pages regularly for updates. • The teacher should register early. Early registration helps the VSF organizers in planning the VSF. • Once the teacher receives the Teacher Registration Number, the student teams should register. Registration information such as team members, and project topic may be changed later. |
| Contact |
|
•
Larry Oberg |
| Mission of the Virtual Science Fair |
The Canada Wide Virtual Science Fair is an annual online science and technology contest open to all Canadian students in grades K-12. Founded in 1999, the goal is to provide a direction and motivation for students and teachers to make the very best use of computer/Internet technology while developing positive attitudes towards science and technology. We particularly encourage the participation of students in more remote regions, of aboriginal descent, and those who may not normally participate in an extra-curricular science activity. There are absolutely no fees charged for participation and free web site hosting is provided to each project team. Children from remote locations and small rural schools can compete equally with their urban peers. The completed projects are judged by a distinguished group of judges, from both industry and academia. Similar to traditional science fairs, the Virtual Science Fair challenges students to explore, examine and analyze scientific questions that arise in the course of their studies or life experiences. However, most significantly, the Virtual Science Fair frees students from the physical, geographic and financial constraints of participating in typical science fairs at the national level. Via the capabilities of Internet/computer technology students post their findings where they can be reviewed and shared by judges and students anywhere in the world. By using Internet/computer technology, the Virtual Science Fair provides a bridge for young scientific minds from Campbell River BC to Iqaluit NU to Regina SK to Halifax NS to interact as if they were part of the same local neighborhood. |
