The 67th Annual Orange County Science & Engineering Fair: March 9-13, 2022!

Schedule

  • Sun. Aug. 1, 2021 at 8:00am :Initial Project Screening opens- required for ALL projects!
  • Wed. Dec.1, 2021 at 8:00am: Project Registration opens
  • Fri. Jan. 21, 2022 at 11:59pm: Last day to submit project for the Initial Project Screening
  • Tue. Feb. 1, 2022 at 11:59pm: Last day to complete the SRC review and approval process with required certification forms
  • Tue. Feb.15, 2022 11:59pm: Project Registration closes
  • Wed. Mar 9, 2022: Project Judging for Board Awards (Zoom)
  • Thur. Mar 10, 2022: Project Judging for ISEF Competition (Zoom)
  • Sun. Mar 13, 2022 (Time TBD): Open House and Awards Assembly (Chapman University)

Multi-step Registration Process

The Registration Process using SurveyMonkey is a multi-step process which includes:

  • SRC Initial Screening
  • Pre-Approval w/ Certifications
  • Project Registration

Use this link to begin the multi-step process: https://ocsef.smapply.io/prog/67_ocsef_2022/

Initial Screening

All projects  require initial screening. OCSEF is using SurveyMonkey Apply for our 2022 registration software. The first step,  Initial Project Screening should be started well before the Initial Project Screening deadline, Fri. Jan. 21, 2022  by all Orange County students planning to enter a project in our 2022 Fair. This allows time for students to complete all the steps of the registration process by the February 15, 2022 Project Registration deadline. Due to the nature of science and engineering research, the initial screening process is for YOUR SAFETY and PROTECTION. 

Registration: https://ocsef.smapply.io/prog/67_ocsef_2022/

Project Pre-Approval

Projects involving (1) humane treatment of live vertebrate animals, (2) hazards control (i.e. projects involving microbiology, vertebrate animal tissue, hazardous chemicals and hazardous equipment), (3) human subjects and/or (4) regulated research (at a lab facility) must follow proper state/federal safety regulations and submit a proposal, along with appropriate Certification Form(s), for additional pre-approval prior to the start of any research. After completing the Initial Screening, if the student answers “yes” to any/all of the 4 questions posed, the registration system will move students to the Pre-Approval Questionnaire which will require completion of appropriate certification forms. 
https://ocsef.smapply.io/prog/67_ocsef_2022/

Please contact src.ocsef@gmail.com for any additional questions.

Project Registration

Once a student completes the Initial Screening and Pre-Approval (with appropriate certification forms, if needed), the Registration System will move students to PROJECT REGISTRATION for the Virtual OCSEF competition https://ocsef.smapply.io/prog/67_ocsef_2022/

  • Initial Project Screening opens Aug. 1, 2021
  •  Initial Project Screening – required for ALL projects – closes Jan 21, 2022.
  • SRC review and approval process with required certification forms closes Feb 1, 2022
  • Project Registration closes Feb 15, 2022
  • Application Status can be found at  https://ocsef.smapply.io/prog/67_ocsef_2022

The following project components must be uploaded to the OCSEF student project registration site (Detailed instructions for uploading will be on the SURVEY MONKEY project registration site: https://ocsef.smapply.io/prog/67_ocsef_2022/ 

  • Maximum 3 min video about your project
  • Project summary report
  • Picture of your display board
  • Pictures of key pages from the log book

OCSEF offers two options for students to submit their projects:

Option #1: Traditional Display Board

Prepare a traditional display board that adheres to all specifications and restrictions. This may be an option for students who need a traditional display board for other purposes.  Upon completion, upload a digital picture of your board when registering your project online . The digital picture must capture ALL essential board components AND BE CLEARLY VISIBLE AND READABLE TO ANY VIEWER.

Option #2: Slide Deck Presentation (see link to template below – highly recommended)

Use a pre-designed digital backboard Google Slide Deck Template presentation, adhering to all criteria and formatting clearly outlined in the first two slides of the template. Once the slide deck presentation is completed, save the file as a PDF and upload it when registering your project online. Although use of a digital backboard slide deck is an option, IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED and will better assist students in structuring their interviews with judges.

2022 OCSEF Digital Slide Deck Template

Project Video

In the OCSEF 2022 Virtual format, every student has to submit a 3-minute video that includes the following:

Introduction:

  • Your name, grade and school
  • The title of your project, explaining your question and hypothesis
  • Equipment used in your project

Methods:

Science Projects

  • Your experimental process
  • Variables that you controlled and tested
  • Size of your test group and number of trials

Engineering Projects

  • The engineering problem you wanted to solve
  • What you built
  • What you did to improve your project

Conclusion:

  • Explain your observations, data, charts and graphs.
  • What would be further research ideas or additional questions and next steps based on your experiments?
  • Who might be interested in your findings, and why?

Group Projects:

  • If you have a group project, every student must present in the video. 
    • Groups of two – each student presents for 1.5 minute each. 
    • Groups of three – each students presents for 1 minute each. 
  • Please combine the videos to one video only for submission. Youtube has some great resources on how to combine videos.  
  • Remember, during a face-to-face interview, each student gets a chance to present and we expect the same in the video as well.