INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS

Imhotep’s Legacy Academy (ILA) is hosting our 2nd annual Young, Gifted & Black Science Fair (YGBSF). This Science Fair is designed to get students of African descent excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

  • Each student must register in their corresponding grade category.
  • The projects must be done individually.
  • ILA will provide all applicants with logbooks.
  • The projects for YGBSF must be fully built.
  • All YGBSF projects will be judged, and ILA will give prizes to the top three students.
  • The top three YGBSF projects will go to Phase 1 of the Canadian Black Scientists Network (CBSN) national competition.
  • The projects for CBSN competitions must be fully built.
  • All projects from CBSN Phase 1 will go to CBSN Phase 2.
    • ILA will pay for the registration fees and the cost of materials required for any YGBSF projects that win CBSN Phase 1.
    • ILA will also help to arrange STEM mentors for these students.
  • The top four students from CBSN (Phase 2) science fair will go to the Regional Wide Science Fair.

The registration deadline is January 6th, 2023 at 11:59pm.  Register Here

Grade Categories

  • Junior – Grades 7-8
  • Intermediate – Grades 9-10
  • Senior – Grades 11-12

Exciting Gift Prizes

ILA will give prizes to the top three (3) students from the YGBSF in Nova Scotia:

  • 1st Prize – $100 value
  • 2nd Prize – $75 value
  • 3rd Prize – $50 value
  • The top three students will receive medals
  • Participants will receive certificates and an ILA gift bag.

CBSN will give prizes to the top three (3) students from the CBSN regional competition (Phase 2):

  • 1st Prize – $150 value
  • 2nd Prize – $125 value
  • 3rd Prize – $100 value
  • Each top student will receive a fully paid trip to Edmonton, Alberta to attend the Canada-wide Science Fair.

TIMELINE

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION DATE LOCATION
REGISTER Registration deadline January 6th, 2023
PRACTICE Practice Science Fair January 15th, 2023 Virtual
COMPETE LOCALLY Young, Gifted & Black Science Fair (YGBSF) January 22nd, 2023 Virtual
COMPETE REGIONALLY-1 Canadian Black Scientists Network (CBSN) national competition (Phase 1) February 4th, 2023  Virtual
COMPETE REGIONALLY-2 Canadian Black Scientists Network (CBSN) national competition (Phase 2) April 1, 2023 In-person
ILA Learning Center
1360 Barrington Street, Room J134
COMPETE NATIONALLY Canada-wide Science Fair (CWSF) May 14th – 19th, 2023 Edmonton, Alberta

ACTION STEP

                                                   FORMS
1. Register to be a contestant using the Young, Gifted & Black Science Fair (YGBSF) Registration Form.
2. Brainstorm to help you come up with a project idea            My STEM Idea Brainstorm [PDF 106kB]
3. Read the safety information for different STEM projects – Youth Science Canada Safety policies             Safety in STEM Projects [PDF 300kB]

4.  Get information about doing ethical STEM work when working with humans or animals.

a. Get approval for your project from your mentor and/or the YGBSF.

b. If your idea involves people, either in low risk or high-risk participation, before beginning you must prepare a letter of information for your participants.

c. If your idea involves animals, either invertebrate or vertebrate, before beginning any animal testing you must prepare a plan using the specified template.

d. Make sure you’re following all the ethics policies – Youth Science Canada Ethics policies.

Note that human and animal projects that do not follow the ethics guidelines will be disqualified.

       a.       Request for Advice or Ruling Ethics Committee form

        b.       Letter of Information, Informed Consent template

                   Permission Form, Informed Consent template  

                   Form 4.1A Low Risk Approval form 

                   Form 4.1B Significant Risk Approval form

          c.       Use of Animals Research Plan Template

                    Form 4.1C Vertebrate Animal Approval form
 5.  Create an account on mySTEMspace. See the video here: How to create an account on mySTEMspace. Go to webpage: https://mystemspace.ca
6. Create your project on ProjectBoard. Video here: How to create your project on ProjectBoard.   Go to webpage: https://portal.youthscience.ca/login
7.  Register for the Canadian Black Scientists Network (CBSN) national competition – Video guide: How to register for a regional STEM fair.  Go to webpage: https://portal.youthscience.ca/login

Project Types

  • Discovery – these projects ask a question and involve research and/or experiments to find an answer.
  • Innovation – these projects create, design, or build something new to solve a problem.

(“Initiate & Plan.”)

Project Challenge Categories

Categorize your project into one of eight themed challenges below. These are used in the judging process.

  1. Agriculture, Fisheries and Food: my project helps ensure food security, sustainability or competitiveness in agriculture, fisheries or food production.
  2. Curiosity and Ingenuity: my project helps improve our understanding or address a problem in an area of STEM not covered by the other challenges.
  3. Digital Technology: my project helps improve our quality of life or transform existing products and services through digital devices, methods or systems.
  4. Disease and Illness: my project helps enhance our diagnosis, treatment or understanding of disease, or the management of physical or mental illness.
  5. Energy: my project helps improve our use of current energy sources, enable the transition to alternative energy sources, or reduce our energy footprint.
  6. Environment and Climate Change: my project helps ensure the quality of water, air, soil or the diversity of living things, or manage the impact of climate change.
  7. Health and Wellness: my project helps prevent disease or promote physical, social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, occupational, or intellectual wellbeing.
  8. Natural Resources: my project helps ensure the sustainable management, use, reuse or recycling of Earth’s finite or renewable natural resources.

(“Challenges and Topics.”)

The logbook is the rough record of your project. It is a journal containing your thoughts, actions you take, observations you see, rough data you take, and everything relating to your project. Start one at the beginning of your project and write in it any time you’re thinking of working on your project.

The following are ideas to help focus your thoughts:

  • At the beginning of each week think about what questions you have and possible topics or key words you need to investigate further.
  • During the week or at the end of each week include your research notes and raw data collected.
  • Note some key words/concepts/data that you came across which you would like to explore further or need clarification on.
  • List something that surprised you or was unexpected in your work.
  • Besides the internet, are there experts or organizations in the field who could help you understand the concepts better?
  • Are there connections between your work and other units of study that make you curious?
  • Create a mind map of how everything you have learned so far fits together. You could use different colored pens to brainstorm questions for each group of information.

We cannot stress enough how important your logbook is for your success at the science fair. CBSN (Phase 2) judges will be looking at your logbook to see your thought process throughout your project. Learn how to use a log book. Make sure to bring your logbook with you to display at the CBSN (Phase 2) science fair.

(“Science Fair Project Do’s and Don’ts.”)

1.       Be Confident and Show Your Excitement

You have the chance to share what you accomplished and what you discovered with the judges and audience when you present your project. We want to hear about all of your fantastic work that you’ve done.

2.       Be Organized in Your Explanations

  • Make sure the order of your presentation makes sense. Despite the many hours you’ve spent working on your product, keep in mind that the judges are unfamiliar with it. In order for the audience to simply follow along, try to walk them through your project and your reasoning step by step.
  • Some students begin by giving a brief introduction to themselves and outlining the topic of their project. You can think about explaining why you chose your project, what you’re attempting to learn, and why it’s significant.
  • If you’ve conducted an experiment, lead the judges through each step of the scientific method, including the tools you used, the steps you took, the number of trials you ran, and the factors you considered. It’s crucial to talk about both what you did and why you did it.

3.       Be Prepared

  • Prepare your presentation in advance and practice it. You’ll need to set a time budget. Schedule a 10-minute presentation followed by a 5-minute question period.
  • Practice your presentation in front of someone who doesn’t already know about your project. Attempt to recall the questions that they pose. You may need to change a few sections if they seem a little lost. They might also ask you questions you never would have considered. Include the knowledge you gain from these exercises in your final presentation.
  • Practice your presentation multiple times, till you’re confident and comfortable
  • Avoid reading any notes. It’s acceptable if you need to consult your notes to stay organized but try to directly explain things to the judge.

The main goal is to enjoy yourself and have fun!

The judges will have more fun if you have more fun!

“Science Fair Project Do’s And Don’ts.” University of the Fraser Valley,

https://www.ufv.ca/science-fair/students/science-fair-project-dos-and-donts/. Accessed 8 November 2022.

“Challenges and Topics.” My Stem Space.

https://mystemspace.ca/start-a-project/challenges-and-topics/. Accessed 8 November 2022.

“Initiate & Plan.” My Stem Space.

https://mystemspace.ca/start-a-project/initiate-and-plan/. Accessed 8 November 2022.

For answers to any questions, please contact ILA Program Manager, Mr. Asher Trim-Gaskin by phone (902-494-2400) or by email asp.imhotep@dal.ca

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