"Treasure your curiosity and nurture your imagination."
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-Shirley Ann Jackson, first Black woman to receive a doctorate from MIT

Handbook

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2023-2024
SJCOE STEAM Fair Handbook

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Student Permission / Hold Harmless Form

​Judging Rubric:  Investigative Projects
Judging Rubric:  Showcase Projects
K-3 Interview Questions Instructions

Important Deadlines and Links

September 1, 2023 - November 30, 2023
On-line school registration open
Registration Link HERE 

December 4, 2023 - January 26, 2024
On-line student registration open.
        (A link will be sent to teachers in January.)
Ethics Statement
Scientific fraud and misconduct are not condoned at any level of research or competition. This includes plagiarism, forgery, use of presentation of other researcher's work as one's own and the fabrication of data. Fraudulent projects will not be tolerated and will be disqualified.
​The San Joaquin County Office of Education  (SJCOE) reserves the right to remove any project which it determines, presents offensive language or pictures as part of its display, journal or abstract.  The SJCOE maintains reasonable security but is not responsible for lost or damaged displays,   Displays which represent a danger to viewers will be removed. All research, experiments models,  and displays presented at the SJCOE STEAM Fair must comply with the California Dept. of Education Student Safety Manual  (https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/sc/sciencesafety.asp).  This includes storage of chemicals, safety gear to be worn by students and compliance with the Ca. Ed.Code.  SJCOE reserves the right to disqualify any projects that exhibit unsafe practices or behaviors or do not use proper personal protective equipment.

The San Joaquin County Office of STEM Programs reserves the right to disqualify any projects which exhibit unsafe practices.

Teachers

The San Joaquin County STEAM Fair is open to all K-12 students who attend school in San Joaquin County and have a teacher or qualified adult sponsor. The STEAM Fair is a secondary fair. Therefore, all projects submitted must first be evaluated/judged at a preliminary school site competition. The STEAM Fair is a qualifying fair for the California State Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF). ​
What support might you provide your student?
  • What skills do your students need?
  • Journaling – EVERYTHING goes in the notebook.
  • Understanding of key vocabulary words.
  • Do they know how to do at least three trials, do they know how to graph, do they know to do more than one test on their prototype?
  • Do they understand SAFETY?  Should they be using goggles, protective gloves, clothing?  Do they know what safety precautions to use? 
  • Do you really understand their project?  You should.
  • BUT, you should NOT be editing, telling them what to do next, etc.   It is the student’s project.​
  • All teachers need to review the SJCOE STEAM Fair Handbook​
  • ​Call or email us if you are in doubt!​

Lab Safety





​The teacher’s job is to ensure that all student experiments are safe and appropriate for their grade level under supervised conditions.
The Rules Wizard has been designed as a first step to help you determine what forms and approvals are necessary before beginning a science fair project. Answer each of the 9 questions and a result page will provide a list of forms and information based on your answers; these forms and the accompanying rules should be reviewed closely with a teacher or mentor BEFORE experimentation begins.

Students

Inspiration from Students
Think about SAFETY first:
  • Be careful of experiments that:  Produce gases or use gases (CO2, dry ice), use chemicals like cleaners, bleaches, alcohol, use of bacteria or mold.  These are a few of examples of the experiments that would require approval by the Scientific Review Committee (SRC).
  • Students must be aware of what projects are restricted and which need pre-approval.  
  • Students should review the SJCOE STEAM Fair Handbook
  • Call us if you are in doubt!​
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Student resource tools

Science Buddies is a great website that not only will help students generate ideas but also guide them in completing the project.

Can I have a mentor?

Sample Boards

Sample Notebook

This is a sample of a 5th grade student from Jefferson School,
Jefferson School District.

This sample is NOT meant to show an exemplar notebook. It is meant to show what type of general items would be in a notebook, as well as the scaffolding used by the school to help mentor students through the process.

Notebooks can be handwritten or computer generated.  If you use a computer, you still must bring in a printed copy of your notebook.

As a special note, this project involves vertebrate animals and required pre-approval by the SJCOE SRC committee.

Additional Resources:

See how Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards are important to science and engineering projects: 

Science Project 
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​Engineering Project
Page Updated 9/22/2023