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Science Fair Alumni Mentorship Program Orientation 2008

Science Fair Alumni Mentorship Program Orientation 2008. November 24, 2008. Agenda. Introduction Patti Leigh - Science Fair Foundation BC Ross Waddell - BC Innovation Council Guidelines and Project Tips Dr. Geoff Gabbott - Sir Winston Churchill Secondary

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Science Fair Alumni Mentorship Program Orientation 2008

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  1. Science Fair Alumni Mentorship ProgramOrientation 2008 November 24, 2008

  2. Agenda Introduction Patti Leigh- Science Fair Foundation BC Ross Waddell - BC Innovation Council Guidelines and Project Tips Dr. Geoff Gabbott- Sir Winston Churchill Secondary Angus Liao - BC Institute of Technology Dinner and project discussions

  3. Piloted: Greater Vancouver in 2006/2007 • Now: Greater Vancouver • South Fraser • Vancouver Island • Northern BC • Central Okanagan • Connects students, teachers, and researchers

  4. Program Goals Resources to address a specific question Encourage students doing project-based science Encourage scientific discussion among students, teachers, and researchers Connect science fair alumni - continued science fair involvement

  5. Program Participants Students grades 9-12 Alumni Mentors Professional Mentors Teachers Parents Science Fair Supporters

  6. Timeline Nov 21, 2008 Most mentor matches completed Feb-Mar, 2009School and district science fairs Feb 6, 2009 Progress Report #1 due Mar-Apr, 2009 Regional Science Fairs May 22, 2009 Progress Report #2 and Feedback form due

  7. Patti LeighExecutive DirectorScience Fair Foundation BC

  8. Ross WaddellDirector, ProgramsBC Innovation Council

  9. Why mentorship? - an example Back in Grade 6... • “Science” was building aliens out of paper-mâché and learning about salmon • I wasn’t very good with aliens I didn’t like fish Then I heard about science fairs...

  10. Why mentorship? - an example • Challenges for an aspiring grade 9 immunologist: • My parents didn’t know the answers! • Limited access to literature and expertise • Limited laboratory skills • Difficult to understand specialized language • Discouragement - “Wait until Grad School…” • Money and equipment - you can’t do tissue culture in your bedroom! • My school didn’t “do” science fairs

  11. Why mentorship? - an example • Important resources: • My parents • Scientists at the NIH • Genetics camp at UBC • Grad students and faculty at UBC • Supervisors at QLT Inc.

  12. Mentorship Program Guidelines This program includes 2 kinds of mentors: • CWSF alumni • University/Industry Professional Mentors • Pre-agreement: time commitment meeting location type of mentorship

  13. Suggested mentorship CWSF Alumni Mentors • General science questions • Email/phone/in person • Requested journal articles • Project presentation and judging • Competitive poster board

  14. Suggested mentorship University/Industry Professional Mentors • Science and technology-related questions • Email/phone/in person • Technical advice • Requested journal articles • Provide technical assistance and laboratory equipment (if appropriate)

  15. Expectations of Students • Responsibility for project – outline project goals, timeline, etc. • Regular communication • Respectful of time • No more than one email in a day • Supervision if working in lab • Respectful of physical/intellectual property • Everything must be your own work!!

  16. Science fair project tips Choosing a topic • Choose something you really care about! • Significance - why does it matter? • Originality - has it been done before? • Creativity - is your approach unique? • Feasibility - are your goals realistic?

  17. Science fair project tips Developing a hypothesis or objective • Understand what is known about your subject area (basic principles!) • Provide a clear rationale • Not all projects have “hypotheses” • Ensure your hypothesis or objective is sufficiently narrow in scope - eg. no “curing” cancer!

  18. Science fair project tips Experimentation / Development • Try to eliminate extraneous variables • Choose the simpler method • Perform multiple trials • Improvise; create your own tools • Keep an up-to-date logbook - standard of reproducibility

  19. Science fair project tips Analysis • Critical component of a strong project • If you created something, test it thoroughly (includes engineering, computing) • Consider as many explanations as possible - it’s ok for your hypothesis to be wrong! • Use statistics where appropriate - consult a math teacher for guidance

  20. Science fair project tips Presentation • Typical display board includes background, hypothesis/objective, materials/methods, results, conclusions, future work, acknowledgements (many are possible!) • Use figures when possible • Provide graphs for quick visual reference - describe axes clearly • Be familiar with every aspect of your work!

  21. Dr. Geoff GabbottInternational Baccalaureate Programme Coordinator Sir Winston Churchill Secondary, Vancouver

  22. Angus LiaoBSc/DplT Operations ManagementUBC and BCIT

  23. Thank you!

  24. Thank you!

  25. More Information Program-related questions and concerns: http://www.sciencefairs.ca/mentorship.html alumni@sciencefairs.ca Project tips, CWSF judging sheet, safety and ethics guidelines: http://www.ysf.ca/SMARTS/support Taneille Johnson - BC Provincial SMARTS Coordinator BC Innovation Council www.bcic.ca Patti Leigh pleigh@sciencefairfoundationbc.ca

  26. Questions

  27. Dinner!

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