Dear Students and Parents,

Congratulations for your interest and support to the Sun Country Regional Science Fair. I wish you the best experience and joy during your preparations and the fair.

One of the most important things to consider for a successful project is filling out the required forms in a right way. This will not only protect anybody involved in the project but also make sure you are not doing something unethical or unsafe during your project.

I would like to share with you some of the most common errors that appear on the forms hoping that it will help you understand and fill out the forms in a better way.

Required Forms: All projects must have at least the following forms:

1. Sun Country Entry Form
2. Sun Country Media Release Form
3. Forms 1, 1A, 1B
4. Research Plan
5. Abstract

There are extra forms (listed on Form 1) for projects involving humans, vertebrates, potentially hazardous biological agents, chemicals, activities, devices… that are done at a place other than home, school or work… continuation projects from previous years.

Dates: The forms must be signed following the project timeline. The actual start date (Form 1B) of the project is an important reference to all other dates. Any consent that has to be taken prior to the experimentation must be signed before the actual start date. The date on the abstract should be after you are finished with the project since that will include your conclusions as well.

Check Boxes: The checkboxes that are on the forms are definitely for a purpose. Sometimes just the signatures on the forms will not mean anything unless the boxes are checked.

Questions: The questions on the forms should be answered in an appropriate way. Again, if the questions are left blank, the form will not mean anything. Especially the extra forms that are required for projects involving humans, vertebrate animals, potentially hazardous biological agents, chemicals or any activities or devices should be answered completely. Any question left blank in those forms may result in disqualification of your project.

Form 1C: If you have done your experimentation in a regulated institution, industrial setting or any worksite other than school, home or field, your supervising adult must complete this form after the experimentation.

Research Plan: Research plan must be completed before the experimentation. So it has to explain what you will be doing in the project (Not what you have done) and therefore the wording should be done accordingly. The research plan must include at least the question, hypothesis, procedures and 5 properly quoted reference (The websites should include the name, owner, link and the date information retrieved from that website). Also, if your project involves humans, vertebrate animals, potentially hazardous biological agents, chemicals or any activities or devices; there is more asked to be included in the research plan. (Refer to the Research Plan page among the forms)

Form 4: This form must be filled out for projects involving human subjects. Questions 1-2-3 must be answered in detail and the approval from IRB must be taken before the experimentation. In most of the cases, it is recommended (and sometimes mandated) that you make a copy of this form and have all your subjects and their parents (if the subjects are under 18) sign those for you to keep before the experimentation.

SRC Signatures: Form 1B, Question 2. The approval from your district SRC must be taken before your actual start date (For projects involving humans, vertebrates, potentially hazardous biological agents).

Risk Assessment Form: If your project involves any hazardous activity, chemicals or biological agents, this form is necessary to be filled out completely. Read the questions and answer them in detail. That will help a lot for your project to qualify.

Abstract: You must include the purpose of your experiment, procedure, data and conclusions in your abstract after you have done your project. Do not forget to select the category, sign, and date and check the appropriate boxes for the questions.

Team Projects: There has to be one separate Form 1B filled out for each team member.

Continuation Projects: If your project is a continuation from the previous years, you must fill out Form 7, along with previous year’s abstract, Form 1A and Research Plan.

I would like to recommend to all the students, teachers and parents to review the forms and try to understand what they are for before they do a project. Although the forms are self explanatory, you can easily make mistakes when you rush through them. The best advice would be to take your time to understand and fill out carefully afterwards.

I hope the information above will be useful for you for the upcoming fairs and wish you good luck in the competition.

Sincerely,

Muharrem Ali Tunc, M.S.
Chair, Sun Country SRC
Harmony Science Academy