Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Russell Cowen Michelle

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Russell Cowen Michelle Deere Susan Selman Fair Director September 2020 © 2018 Austin Energy Associate Fair Director Fair Coordinator

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Jr. /Sr. Division Teacher Orientation: What’s New for 2021? http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSTeacher. Packet. pdf www. sciencefest. org 2

2020 Statistics • Students and Projects • Sr. Division (High School) • 37 Schools • 345 Students • 287 Projects • Judges and Volunteers • Over 600 Judges • Over 200 Volunteers • Jr. Division (Middle School) • 36 Schools • 484 Students • 428 Projects • Elementary Division • 178 Schools • 1945 Students • 1711 Projects 3

What’s New for 2021 • AERSF • The Science Fair will be completely virtual (all online) to keep participants safe during the COVID-19 • • • pandemic. There will be no physical fair taking place at Palmer Event Center this year. Email will be an important method of contact. Please update contact information in Scienteer and consider adding a personal cell phone number in case schools are closed. Students will be provided a Power. Point template as an electronic version of their project board. http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSProject. Template. pptx Students will upload their virtual presentation boards as PDFs after SRC approval. The presentation should include the SRC approved abstract and forms 1 C and 7 if needed. Judges will have access to student virtual presentations prior to judging. Judging panels will conduct video interviews with students. This will be a multi-day process with senior division judging a week earlier than usual. Teachers and students will receive an email with the time of the interview and the link. Students may have more than one interview time, and emails may come in with short notice for 2 nd round and Best of Fair judging. http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSGuides. Changes. pdf 4

What’s New for 2021 (continued) • AERSF • The Award Ceremony will be on-line. Schools will be responsible for picking up all awards by appointment. • Fees will be reduced for this year to $15 per project. • Schools can submit up to 75 projects this year. • Additional topic specific teacher trainings will be held throughout the year. Please email your ideas for topics to sciencefest@austinenergy. com • ISEF • No new rules or changes from last year http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSGuides. Changes. pdf 5

Not New But Worth Mentioning • AERSF • For middle and high school, invoices will be e-mailed by the Austin Science Education Foundation after the Regional Fair with instructions to pay 6

What is Staying the Same? • Paperless Registration in Scienteer • Manage projects, paperwork and registration online through Scienteer www. scienteer. com 7

Schedule Highlights • Registration and Category Selection/SRC Submission Deadline • Thursday January 28, 2021 • Austin Energy Regional Science Festival • • Virtual Project Submission: 2/2 -2/4 Senior Division, 2/3 -2/5 Junior Division Judging: 2/9 -2/11 Senior Division, 2/16 -2/19 Junior Division, 2/22 -2/23 Special Awards Award Ceremony: 7: 00 p. m. on Thursday, February 25, 2021 Award Distribution: March 1 -5, 2021 By Appointment • Sx. SW Edu • TBA • Texas Science and Engineering Fair • TBA – Virtual Fair for 2021 (Blue Ribbon Judging may be in person), Texas A&M, College Station • International Science and Engineering Fair • TBA – Virtual Fair for 2021 http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSSchedule. pdf 8

Topic Training Sessions Session # Date Time Topic 1 Thursday, September 3, 2020 5: 00 -6: 00 p. m. What's New for 2021? 2 Thursday, September 10, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules, SRC, IRB Overview 3 Thursday, September 17, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Research Ideas at Home 4 Thursday, September 24, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Getting Started in Scienteer 5 Thursday, October 1, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Question/Answer Session 6 Thursday, December 3, 2020 7 Thursday, January 7, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Presentation Board and Display & Safety Rules School Finalization and Student Steps Prior to 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Judging 8 Thursday, January 21, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Preparing Students for Judging 9

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Jr. /Sr. Division - Rules, SRC, IRB Overview http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSTeacher. Packet. pdf www. sciencefest. org 10

Projects • Can be an Individual Project or a Team of up to 3 students • Must abide by ISEF Rules and Guidelines • Will Compete in one of our 17 Scientific Categories • Top winners in each category will advance to State Fair • Top 5 – 6 projects in High School will advance directly to International (ISEF) • ISEF Rules Apply to All Projects • http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf • https: //ruleswizard. societyforscience. org/ • More projects will be done at home this year. Be careful of the rules and what is allowed at home. • Here are some ideas for projects that can be done at home from ISEF 2020 presentations as well as resources submitted by judges and teachers http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Ideasfor. Jr_Sr. Science. Fair. Projects. At. Home. pdf 11

Three Project Warning Flags!!! Stop and read the rules or ask questions!!! Human Participants: (Form 4) Vertebrate Animals: (Form 5) Microbiology PHBA (Form 6) Humans as participants require prior IRB Vertebrate Animal studies require prior SRC CAN’T BE DONE AT HOME approval Requires prior SRC approval http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 12

Review Committees • IRB (Institutional Review Board) • Human Participant Studies – pre-approval • School Administrator • Medical or Mental Health Professional (minimum of RN or licensed social worker) • Educator • All three members must sign • SRC (Scientific Review Committee) • Vertebrate Animals and Microbiology(microorganisms, blood, bodily fluids, etc. ) – pre-approval • Biomedical Expert: graduate degree in Microbiology, Biomedical Research, related field or equivalent experience • Educator • One other member • Only 1 chair person must sign http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/SRC%20 Quick%20 Reference. pdf 13

Survey Questions • Survey Questions in Scienteer • Students need to carefully answer the survey questions in order to generate the correct forms for their project especially for human subjects and bacteria. Most students don’t see themselves as human subjects. If they are testing on themselves, they are human subjects (requires form 4 and IRB approval). There is a minor exception to this rule (on next slide), but most of the time, students need IRB approval. www. scienteer. com http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Scienteer. Student. Questions. docx 14

Review of Common Paperwork Mistakes • Human Participant Study • Form 4 should not have “Not Applicable” selected for all age groups of participants. • On-line surveys require participant consent and must include a statement similar to the one provided by ISEF in the rule book https: //sspcdn. blob. core. windows. net/files/Documents/SEP/ISEF/Resources/Online-Survey-Consent. Procedures. pdf. Surveys should require participants to click a button or type a response indicating consent after the statement is read. • Engineering projects that use human participants to test or analyze their product require a Form 4 with IRB review with the exception of the researcher and a single adult. If a student tests their own engineering product and it requires them to do a physical activity, they need a Form 4 with IRB review. • The above exemption is for engineering projects only and NOT for experiments. http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 15

Review of Common Paperwork Mistakes • Human Participant Study Examples Project Type Project Explanation Human Involvement Form 4 Requirement Engineering Computer software created by student researcher 20 Students tested the software Required Engineering Computer software created by student researcher Researcher and teacher tested software Exempt Engineering Student created system where video game only works when a bicycle is used Researcher and teacher tested the system Required Experiment Blood pressure tested while playing different video games Researcher Required Experiment Bacteria cultured from hands after using different hand sanitizers Researcher Required http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 16

Review of Common Paperwork Mistakes • Vertebrate Animal Study • Students are not allowed to cause pain, distress, or death to animals in their study. An IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) from a Regulated Research Institution may allow this type of study, but it will not be allowed at our fair. • Biological Agents (microbiology) • Culturing bacteria, mold, or other microorganisms can’t be done at home. • Regulated Research Institutions (RRI) • Form 1 C must be completed by the supervising adult at the university or place of business where the research was done, not by the student or teacher. http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 17

Additional Rules • Firearms • Projects dealing with firearms are not allowed at the middle school level • Explosive propulsion devices, i. e. potato gun research is not allowed • Research dealing with explosives are not allowed • Rockets are ok but only with store bought engines (not homemade) • High School projects utilizing firearms, must be done at a certified location/range with licensed instructor http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 18

Top 4 “Failed to Qualify” Reasons 1. Grew mold or bacteria or cultured microorganisms at home 2. Did a human participant study without proper forms and IRB preapproval 3. Did a vertebrate animal study without proper forms or SRC preapproval 4. Cultured microorganisms without proper forms or SRC pre. Approval http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 19

Topic Training Sessions Session # Date Time Topic 1 Thursday, September 3, 2020 5: 00 -6: 00 p. m. What's New for 2021? 2 Thursday, September 10, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules, SRC, IRB Overview 3 Thursday, September 17, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Research Ideas at Home 4 Thursday, September 24, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Getting Started in Scienteer 5 Thursday, October 1, 2020 6 Thursday, December 3, 2020 7 Thursday, January 7, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Question/Answer Session Presentation Board and Display & Safety 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules School Finalization and Student Steps Prior 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. to Judging 8 Thursday, January 21, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Preparing Students for Judging 20

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Jr. /Sr. Division – Research Ideas at Home http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSTeacher. Packet. pdf www. sciencefest. org 21

Research at Home • More projects will be done at home this year. Be careful of the rules and what is allowed at home. • Culturing bacteria, mold, or other microorganisms can’t be done at home, but there a lot of organisms that can be studied at home. • Here are some ideas for projects that can be done at home from ISEF 2020 presentations as well as resources submitted by judges and teachers http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Ideasfor. Jr_Sr. Science. Fair. Projects. At. Home. pdf • ISEF Research At Home Webpage https: //www. societyforscience. org/research-athome/ http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/ISEFRule. Book. pdf 22

Model Organisms Animals: Pill bugs (learning and memory, classical association) Fruit flies (developmental biology, behavior) Mealworms (behavior) Planaria (cell proliferation) Bean Beetles (ecological resource sharing) Brine shrimp Fungi: Yeast Edible mushrooms Slime molds Plants: Scallion onions or Garlic (root tip experimentation) Red peppers Citrus (ascorbic acid) Legumes Wisconsin Fast plants Herbs Radishes ISEF 2020 Research at Home: Life Sciences Edition 23

School Support • Start a lending program for supplies - microscopes, balances, plasticware, petri dishes, safe chemicals, fruit fly vials, test tubes, etc. • Establish partnerships with local businesses and universities to get access to supplies for students. 24

Big Data • Students can mine data from sources on-line for some great projects • There are links to many data sets on our Ideas document http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Ideasfor. Jr_Sr. Science. Fair. Projects. At. Home. pdf • ISEF Research At Home Webpage has a links to several data sets https: //www. societyforscience. org/research-at-home/large-data-sets/ • Science Magazine recently had an article about a genotype tissue expression database (GTEx) https: //www. sciencemag. org/news/2020/09/invaluable-database-helps-solvemystery-how-genes-are-regulated GTEx - https: //gtexportal. org/ ISEF 2020 Research at Home: Big Data and Engineering Edition 25

What Resources Have You Found? • Teacher Recommended Resources • Neuron Spiker. Box Bundle to measure electrical spikes (action potentials ) in invertebrates PBS Special on Slime Molds https: //backyardbrains. com/products/spikerbox. Bundle • Abuzz Mosquito monitoring project • Research At A Distance Opportunity - Real World Wolbachia Project • Arduino Kits • Raspberry Pi • Book on Chemistry of Cooking - Chemical reactions: everyday chemistry of cooking • Book on Chemistry of Cooking - What einstein told his cook • Livecams of different ecosystems and organisms • Virtual Chemistry and Simulations https: //www. acs. org/content/acs/en/education/students/highschool/chemistryclubs/activities/ simulations. html • Ph. ET Simulations https: //phet. colorado. edu/en/simulations/filter? subjects=physics&sort=alpha&view=grid • Modeling Environment for Simulations https: //ccl. northwestern. edu/netlogo/ • PBS Special on Slime Molds https: //www. kpbs. org/news/2020/sep/15/nova-secret-mind-slime/ • Girls Who Code Club 26

Topic Training Sessions Session # Date Time Topic 1 Thursday, September 3, 2020 5: 00 -6: 00 p. m. What's New for 2021? 2 Thursday, September 10, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules, SRC, IRB Overview 3 Thursday, September 17, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Research Ideas at Home 4 Thursday, September 24, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Getting Started in Scienteer 5 Thursday, October 1, 2020 6 Thursday, December 3, 2020 7 Thursday, January 7, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Question/Answer Session Presentation Board and Display & Safety 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules School Finalization and Student Steps Prior 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. to Judging 8 Thursday, January 21, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Preparing Students for Judging 27

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Jr. /Sr. Division – Getting Started in Scienteer http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSTeacher. Packet. pdf www. sciencefest. org 28

Registration • Manage projects, paperwork and registration online through Scienteer www. scienteer. com 29

School Steps begin ASAP • Create or activate the Scienteer account for your school • New Schools contact russell. cowen@austinenergy. com • Existing schools, simply login to scienteer. com to re-activate your account • Configure your school (steps 1 -3) • • Update your school information (found under “Tools”) Update your contact information (found in “edit profile”) Add your teachers Setup your SRC/IRB Remove any inactive members Open your student registration and give your registration link to the students Monitor their progress • Advance your winners (steps 4 -5) • Select your winners • Finalize your selection (can’t be undone!!) Final is final http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Scienteer. School. Guide. pdf http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSTeacher. Checklist. pdf 30

Student Project Stages • Planning and Approvals (before the project can start) • September – October (student steps 1 – 13) • Parental Permission and create online account in Scienteer Quick Tip: http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Quick. Tip_register_student. pdf • Student completes Research Plan questions in Scienteer Document: http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Scienteer. Student. Questions. docx • Student gets signatures (if needed) from Adult Supervisor or Qualified Scientist • Teacher/Adult Sponsor reviews and approves the Research Plan (student step 11) • If required student obtains review and approvals from SRC/IRB (school committee) http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Scienteer. Student. Guide. pdf http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSStudent. Checklist. pdf 31

Student Project Stages (continued) • Experimentation and Data Collection • October – December • Post Experimentation Documentation, Abstract and Summary • January (student steps 14 – 18) • Category Selection and SRC Submission • January 28, 2021 • Virtual Board Submission (PDF with SRC approved abstract on slide 3) • February 2 -4 Senior Division, February 3 -5 Junior Division http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSProject. Template. pptx http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSStudent. Checklist. pdf 32

Scienteer Demo • www. scienteer. com 33

Topic Training Sessions Session # Date Time Topic 1 Thursday, September 3, 2020 5: 00 -6: 00 p. m. What's New for 2021? 2 Thursday, September 10, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules, SRC, IRB Overview 3 Thursday, September 17, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Research Ideas at Home 4 Thursday, September 24, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Getting Started in Scienteer 5 Thursday, October 1, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Question/Answer Session 6 Thursday, December 3, 2020 7 Thursday, January 7, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Presentation Board and Display & Safety Rules School Finalization and Student Steps Prior to 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Judging 8 Thursday, January 21, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Preparing Students for Judging 34

Austin Energy Regional Science Festival Jr. /Sr. Division – Question/Answer Session http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/JSTeacher. Packet. pdf www. sciencefest. org 35

Teacher Questions • Do you have ideas for Physics Team Projects that can be done virtually? There a lot of phone apps for taking measurements such as sound frequency and light sensor measurements that students can use. There are several apps listed on the Ideas for Science Fair Projects at Home document http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Ideasfor. Jr_Sr. Science. Fair. Projects. At. Home. pdf. For engineering projects, students can use Arduino or Raspberry Pi kits. They can simulate their designs on Tinker. CAD. com. There is more information about Tinker. CAD on the ISEF 2020 presentation https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Cy. GDGM 65 Bi 4. • How should teachers review student research plans if students are virtual? Teachers can assign the Research Plan http: //www. sciencefest. org/images/pdfs/Scienteer. Student. Questions. docx in Google Classroom or another platform. Teachers can then review the research plan before students submit the information in Scienteer. com. Then students can copy and paste the sections of the Research Plan in to Scienteer for a final review and approval by the teacher. If you are short on time, you can skip the first review of the research plan, and only review the plan through Scienteer. 36

Teacher Questions (continued) • How will judging be done this year? Judging for the regional science fair will be spread over 9 days. Prior to judging interviews, students will upload their virtual presentation boards, and judges will have access to the boards. Students will receive a link to a meeting room where judges will interview them. Judging panels will interview students rather than the usual one judge at a time. Students should have a short opening statement about what they did, why they did it, and what they learned. Then judges will ask questions and the student will have time to respond. The interview should take apx. 10 minutes. If there are more than 10 students in a category, there will be two rounds of judging with qualifying students advancing to the second round. • How can I mimic the process for my school fair? You can use Google Meet or Zoom meetings. Put judges in breakout rooms, and then have students join one at a time for interviews from the main room. You can use Google Sheets for assigning the link. You can also create a Google Sheet with links to the students’ virtual project boards, so judges can review the projects before the interviews. Then judges can give feedback as to what students should change before advancing to the regional fair. • Will students need a physical display board for the state fair? State will not require a physical board this year. They will use a virtual presentation board similar to ours. 37

Topic Training Sessions Session # Date Time Topic 1 Thursday, September 3, 2020 5: 00 -6: 00 p. m. What's New for 2021? 2 Thursday, September 10, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules, SRC, IRB Overview 3 Thursday, September 17, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Research Ideas at Home 4 Thursday, September 24, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Getting Started in Scienteer 5 Thursday, October 1, 2020 7 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Question/Answer Session Presentation Board and Display & Safety Thursday, December 3, 2020 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Rules School Finalization and Student Steps Prior to Thursday, January 7, 2021 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Judging 8 Thursday, January 21, 2021 6 5: 00 -5: 45 p. m. Preparing Students for Judging 38

Questions from the Chat Box 39