VPL Virtual Science Fair Rules and Regulations

1. Who Can Participate

The VPL Virtual Science Fair is open to all with a valid Vaughan Public Library card, those whose parents go to work in Vaughan, or who themselves go to school in Vaughan and who are within the grade ranges of 2 – 12 or their equivalents if they are enrolled in an alternative educational setting.

  • a. Age Categories
    • i. This event will have 3 separate entrant categories for participants. There will be a Junior Division for entrants who are in Grades 2-5 (or their equivalents), an Intermediate Division for Grades 6-8, and a Senior Division for Grades 9-12.
    • ii. If an entrant is about to enter a grade that would put them in a higher category, they may opt to enter either in their current grade or their future grade. They may not enter both, as you can only submit a single entry for this event.
  • b. Individual Entries
    • i. Participants are more than welcome to enter this event as an individual entrant. While there are separate categories for age ranges, individual and group entries will be judged in the same way.
  • c. Group Entries
    • i. For this event we will accept group entries with a maximum of 4 members per group. Upon submission for this event, all group members must be listed. Any changes to the group membership must be notified to the VPL Virtual Science Fair group before the deadline.
    • ii. When forming a group for entry, please keep in mind that the children need to be in the same grade category to form a group. If there are multiple age categories within the group, the group will be entered into the age category of the oldest member.

2. What materials will be accepted

As this is an online Virtual Science Fair, we will be unable to receive any physical entries for this event. As such, we will be accepting images, videos, PowerPoint presentations, websites, as well as other digital medium entries for this event.

  • a. Submission
    • i. Submission of entries must be sent via the submission portal on the event web page, hosted on the Vaughan Public Libraries website. By submitting your entry for this event, you hereby allow Vaughan Public Libraries and its affiliates to view and display the submitted work on their website/social media/venues.
    • For more information on how to submit your files, see the Deadline & Submission section (a) How to submit.
    • iii. Each registrant is only able to enter a single project. If someone enters the event registered as an individual, they cannot enter again as part of a group.
  • b. Display
    • i. All entries submitted to the VPL Virtual Science Fair will be posted on a web portal for the general public to view. While judging of these entries will be done by a selected group of officials, selected by the VPL Virtual Science Fair team, all projects, whether they be winning entries or not, will be accessible for all to view once the event wraps up.
  • c. Permissions
    • i. By submitting your entry for this event, you hereby allow Vaughan Public Libraries and its affiliates to post your entry for the public to view and for Vaughan Public Libraries to use elements of your entry for future marketing or educational purposes. Credit will be given for any use of the submitted material.

3. Topic

All submissions and projects for the VPL Virtual Science Fair must be based upon a specific topic. This is to guide the research process and help participants narrow their visions as to what kind of project they wish to create. This will also help judges determine the appropriateness and relevancy of entries.

  • a. Topic
    • i. The topic for the 2022 VPL Virtual Science Fair is: Accessibility. How can we identify and break down barriers and make the world a more accessible place?
  • b. Judging Rubric
    • i. Judging for the VPL Virtual Science Fair will be undertaken by an impartial group of Judges, selected from VPL Senior Staff who will follow a strict judgement rubric.
    • ii. Projects will be judged on the following criteria:
      • 1. Overall Presentation – The organization, clarity, and presentation of the research. This can include the design of the presentation as well as the delivery of information.
        • a. Grading Potential: 10 Points.
      • 2. Quality of Research – Does the presented information present a clear picture of the research question? Does the presented information come from good sources? Does the conclusion follow logically from the presented sources of information? Does the presentation follow the scientific method? Is there a list of sources we can follow (Works Cited)?
        • a. Grading Potential: 15 Points.
      • 3. Relevance – Does this project relate to the topic? How original is the project? Has this information been presented in an original or interesting way?
        • a. Grading Potential: 10 Points.
    • iii. Projects can receive a maximum score of 35 points and a minimum score of 0. Scores are to be used solely for judging and we will not be releasing the scores of each individual project.

4. Deadline & Submission

  • a. Sign up
    • i. There is no need for pre-registration for this event. There will be a web form for participants to fill out and submit when they are ready to turn in their projects.
    • ii. Everyone is welcome to submit a project for this event providing they fall within the age criteria for the event and either they or their registered guardian have a valid VPL library card.
    • iii. The web form on the VPL Virtual Science Fair portal will allow participants to submit all the necessary information for their project to be considered for the science fair judging committee.
    • iv. Submissions will require:
      • 1. All participants names.
      • 2. All participants ages.
      • 3. A primary contact participant.
      • 4. A guardian’s name and contact.
      • 5. A valid Vaughan Public Library card number.
      • 6. A link to the submitted file (if it is over 25mb) via Google Drive or Microsoft One Drive.
      • 7. A link to the video on a hosted video platform such as YouTube.
      • 8. Files can also be emailed to the VPL Virtual Science Fair coordinator tommy.sunthorn@vaughan.ca. Maximum file size (20 mb).
  • b. Final Submission Deadline
    • i. All projects from all categories are due by July 31st at midnight (12am Eastern Standard Time). Submissions sent in after this time will not be accepted by any means.
    • ii. You are welcome to submit an entry before the deadline and we will take re-submissions up until the project deadline. No judging or viewing of the projects will occur until after the deadline has passed.

5. Ethics

All participants entering the VPL Virtual Science Fair agree to adhere to a strict set of ethical rules and laws. The violation of any of these rules and/or laws will result in the immediate disqualification of the entry into the event.

  • a. Responsibilities of the participant
    • i. The participant agrees that all activities and research that occurred in the course of creating this project did not create any undue hardship to any and all participating research subjects.
    • ii. The participant agrees that all that are involved in the studies and research for this project are willing participants.
    • iii. The participant agrees that no intentional harm has come to their research subjects during the course of their study.
  • b. Plagiarism & Academic Honesty
    • i. The participant hereby agrees that their submitted project is their own and not plagiarised in any way.

6. Prizes

  • a. The winners of each category will receive a prize. Each participating group member for the winning project will receive a prize.
    • i. Junior Category Prize: BBC Micro:Bit Kit
    • ii. Intermediate Category Prize: BBC Micro:Bit Kit
    • iii. Senior Category Prize: Raspberry Pi 4B 1gb

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