TVSEF Project Guide
Students are encouraged to use this Project Guide when planning and completing their Science Fair Project.
It is important that all students follow the Safety and Ethics Regulations listed at the beginning of this guide. Failure to do so may result in disqualification.
Before you begin your project, check out these helpful resources from mySTEMspace:
Youth Science Canada’s guide to everything you need to know about science fair projects!
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Make sure your project is SAFE and ETHICAL
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Read and follow the instructions in the following links:
Follow instructions on Slides 4-8 if you plan to work with humans or animals
Will you be working with HUMANS?
Working with HUMANS
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Human participants must be well-informed about your plans for your project. They must always be kept ANONYMOUS, and they must provide written CONSENT.
You may use the following forms to help with this.
Working with HUMANS
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Read the following documents and complete the appropriate forms as instructed by Ethics Chair
or
Will you be working with ANIMALS?
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Will you be working with ANIMALS?
Use-of-Invertebrate-Animals-in-Research.pdf
Use-of-Vertebrate-Animals-and-Cephalopods-in-Research.pdf
Read the relevant policy on using invertebrates or vertebrates:
Complete the following forms as instructed by the Ethics Chair:
PROJECT COMPONENTS
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
PROCEDURE
RESULTS
CONCLUSION
NEXT STEPS
REFERENCES
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Project Introduction
Tell us about your project in 1 minute or less!
NOTE: If the Fair should have to switch to an online format, then you will need to record this intro in either video or audio format.
Background (Why?)
Include sections such as purpose, hypothesis and background information
Guiding Questions:
Procedure (How?)
Include sections such as materials, methods, design process.
To enhance clarity, properly labelled figures, photos, or prototype sketches should be included.
Point form (bulleted) is encouraged.
Guiding Questions:
Results (What?)
For Experiments:
For Design:
Conclusion (So What?)
Include sections such as Analysis, Discussion and Conclusion
Guiding Questions
Next Steps
Include sections such as further research and future improvements
Some ideas you could include:
References
Where did you get your information?
All ideas, thoughts, data or statements that are not uniquely your own need to be referenced.
We encourage the use of APA formatting for all your references, especially for Intermediate and Senior projects.
See Samples listed at the end.
Acknowledgements (Thank You)
Every scientist benefits from help, and it is important to acknowledge and thank them.
List all of the people who helped you with your project (relative, teacher, mentor, friend, etc).
Where did you get your information?
All ideas, thoughts, data or statements that are not uniquely your own should be referenced. We encourage the use of APA* formatting for all your references, especially for Intermediate and Senior projects.
Examples of reference sources include academic journal articles, books, and conference presentation; White Papers (Government and Non-government Organizations-NGOs); and Grey Literature (e.g. blogs, websites, videos, proprietary images).
*APA: American Psychological Association
Samples of how to format each listed in the next four slides.
Reference Samples
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How to Reference Journal Articles
Single Author:
Berndt, T. J. (2002). Friendship quality and social development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 7-10.
Three to Seven Authors:
Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T., & Bach, J. S. (1993). There's more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.
More than Seven:
Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009). Web site usability for the blind and low-vision user. Technical Communication, 57, 323-335.
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How to Reference Books
Single Author:
Eby, G. N. (2016). Principles of environmental geochemistry. Waveland Press.
Multiple Authors:
Shahnawaz, M., Sangale, M. K., & Ade, A. B. (2019). Bioremediation technology for plastic waste. Springer Singapore
Chapter Author(s):
Blanco, J.L. & Garcia, M.E. (2010). Animal as Reservoir of Fungal Diseases (Zoonses?). In I, Ahmad, M. Owais, M. Shahid, & F. Aqil (Eds.), Combating fungal infections: problems and remedy. Springer Science & Business Media.
Book Review:
Stadtländer, C. T. H. (2022). Book Review:“Mare Plasticum–The Plastic Sea: Combatting Plastic Pollution Through Science and Art”, Streit-Bianchi M, Cimadevila M, Trettnak W (Eds), Springer Nature Publishing.
How to Reference Electronic Sources
For detailed information on referencing electronic sources visit Purdue Online Writing Lab: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa6_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.html
Examples of electronic sources include:
Conference Proceedings, Blogs, Podcasts, Youtube Videos; encyclopedia, wiki, dictionary and online images
Some Samples:
Conference Proceedings
Huang, S., Pierce, R., & Stamey, J. (Eds.). (2006). Proceedings of the 24th annual ACM international conference on the design of communication. ACM Digital Library. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1166324&picked=prox
Blogs:
J Dean. (2008, May 7). When the self emerges: Is that me in the mirror? [web log comment]. Retrieved from https://www.spring.org.uk/the1sttransport
Videos or Images:
Tasty. (2018, March 7). 7 recipes you can make in 5 minutes [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_5wHw6l11o
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How to Reference Government and NGO Documents
Government:
National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
NGO:
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Practice guidelines for the treatment of patients with eating disorders (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
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