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The junior fair is designed to help students create a greater appreciation for the role that science plays in their everyday lives by taking down the rigid barriers that so many associate with "doing" science and allowing students to see that the processes of "doing" science is really just a part of the natural curiosity humans innately have. Idea development is simply based on making science applicable to every aspect of their lives, including interests and hobbies.

The senior fair is designed for the student that wants to advance their ideas into a more rigorous project. This route was developed under the assumption that students feel comfortable using the scientific and engineering practices effectively, so that further tools and resources can be introduced in order to cultivate a more in-depth and narrowly-focused project with an end goal of presenting at a competition.

The time frame for a junior fair can range from a couple days to a couple months. The time frame for a senior fair is expected to be longer generally several months, or even a year, to fully develop the project.

Both routes are similar in nature and content so that students can jump forward or back, if needed.

Don't know which route to pick? Quick check:

1. Do you know how to comfortably apply scientific and engineering practices to anything around you (i.e. interests, hobbies, natural world, day-to-day events, etc.)?

2. Do you know how to learn more about individual components/aspects of a topic through research or observation?

3. Are you able to easily develop a concentrated or narrowly-focused question from research or observation?

If you say yes to two or three of those questions select the senior fair level.

NOTE: When competing, the level chosen does not determine the level at which you can compete. Competition levels are determined by grade, 6-8 will compete in a Junior Fair and 9-12 will compete in a Senior Fair.

The following link is a roadmap for more advanced projects: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/competitions/how-to-get-started-on-an-advanced-science-project .) (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.This link is a project database for ISEF from 2014-2018: https://abstracts.societyforscience.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.For the junior fair route, the following are video examples of how you can turn any topic into a valid science project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S32y9aYEzzo (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnL7sJYblGY (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.