YING TRSEF COUNTIES from which we can accept middle and high school science fair participants:

Allegany Broome Cattaraugus Chautauqua Chemung Clinton Delaware Erie Essex Franklin Genesee Herkimer Jefferson Lewis Niagara Orleans Otsego Schuyler Steuben St. Lawrence Sullivan Tioga Tompkins Wyoming

Other regionals serve the balance of New York State.

Click All NYS Fairs to find yours ... and have a GREAT time!

Judge Registration

The Ying TRSEF needs judges, one for every participating student or team — and that means over 150 judges! Please recruit friends, families, college students, coworkers, and colleagues. Send them the link to this page or attach the Judge Recruitment Flyer to emails!

Our 2012 dates are: Ying Scholar and Rube Goldberg on Saturday, March 17, 2012;
Junior and Senior Level Science Fair on Sunday, March 18, 2012.

To register, you will go to our online form. You even have three events that weekend from which to choose!

FYI:

Judge Recruitment Flyer PDF
Judging 101 PDF
First Round Judging Rubric PDF
Categories PDF
Map and Directions LINK

Judge Qualifications & Roles

Ying Scholar Competition Judging (Grades 9-12)

  • Ph.D.s or high-ranking military officers may judge the Ying Scholars.

Rube Goldberg College Machine Contest Judging

  • Engineering or physics faculty, union trainers and masters, and experienced engineers are invited to serve as Rube Goldberg judges.

Senior Level Research Judging (Grades 9-12)

  • Enthusiasm for your field and a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in science, engineering, technology, medicine, the skilled trades, education, business, or the law.
  • Will assess a student’s project for creativity, scientific/engineering/technical knowledge, thoroughness, and clarity in a competitive environment.
  • First Round: Senior Level judging teams, organized by preferred judging category, judge using rubric.
  • Experienced Senior Level judges may volunteer to be considered for Team Captain.
  • Second Round: With an experienced coordinator, team captains choose students advancing to further competitions.

Junior Level Research Judging (Grades 5-8)

  • High school diploma (can be retired, working or in college) and a real interest in encouraging students to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
  • Enjoy interacting with young people. Your sincerity — your asking “What did you do?” and listening with engagement — will make the greatest difference for these young people.
  • Junior Level judges individually interview an assigned group of students within a single grade, using the rubric to score.
  • Judge groups, led by an experienced team captain, meet to discuss the projects and assign awards.
  • Experienced Junior Level judges may volunteer to be considered as a Team Captain.

Special Awards Judging

  • Special Awards are given by local businesses and organizations as well as through the Ying TRSEF’s affiliation with the Society for Science and the Public. Sponsors may provide judges, but we can recruit additional people if needed.
  • Special Awards judges use the first judging hour to interview poster presenters, to allow fair judges a block of unrestricted access to their assigned research students. Note: Special Awards judges may select a poster presenter for their award(s) if the judging guidelines permit; this first hour is very useful to identify an initial set of those projects!

Poster Presentations Judging

  • The poster option exposes more students to the delight of exploring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
  • We begin by incorporating the excellent programs that already exist in the schools – Project Lead the Way, BOCES technology classes, Science Research in the High School, ESF in the High School, individual school exhibitions that include STEM topics, and International Baccalaureate districts. Many outstanding youth programs such as 4-H, Girl Scouts of America, Boy Scouts of America, Junior Achievement, Future Farmers of America, to name a few, sponsor STEM-related activities.
  • Often these programs encourage youth to go well beyond the Regents curriculum; posters about what they have learned prepare them for subsequent Ying TRSEF research involvement.

Things to Know

The Ying TRSEF trains all judges on the day of their selected competition, providing refreshments and lunch.

Team Leaders will be notified in advance. Other judges will meet their team leaders at the training and receive their assignments there.

See you at the Science Fest!

Pass this link and flyer along to others as widely as possible, PLEASE!