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Useful Judge Information

Information | Schedule | Marking Forms | Instructions | Project Lists

The 2024 Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair will be in-person in the Elliott Lecture Wing, University of Victoria. As a result we need Judges.

We anticipate that there will be approximately 100 projects for the 2024 Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair. To evaluate projects and help to run the Science Fair a large number of judges are needed.

If you have an interest in science and wish to help foster an appreciation of science in students from Grades 4 through 12 please register below to help judge the overall ranking of projects.

Registration for General Judging

To register to judge Specialty Awards donated by a sponsor organization please contact lggree@shaw.ca and chiefjudge.virsf@gmail.com .

General Information for Judges

There are four Age Categories:

  • Elementary – Gr 4-5
  • Intermediate – Gr 6-7
  • Junior – Gr 8-9
  • Senior – Gr 10-12

Project Classifications are defined as:

  • Experiment
    An investigation undertaken to test a specific hypothesis using experiments.  Experimental variables, if identified, are controlled to some extent.
  • Innovation
    Involving the development and evaluation of innovative devices, models or techniques or approaches in fields such as technology, engineering, or computers (both hardware and software).
  • Study
    A collection and analysis of data to reveal evidence of a fact, situation or pattern of scientific interest. It could include a study of cause and effect relationships or theoretical investigations of scientific data. Variables, if identified, are by their nature not feasible to control, but an effort to make meaningful correlation is encouraged.

There are 2 categories of judging:

  • Divisional – judging and selection of winners at each grade level, including the selection of representatives to represent Vancouver Island at the Canada Wide Science Fair.  Detailed information on divisional judging is given here.

If you are interested in divisional judging please register here  between February 25 and April 10.

  • Specialty – selection of winners for specific awards generously donated by our sponsors.  More information on specialty judging is given here. 

If you are a member of a sponsor organization and have volunteered to judge for their award, please contact lggree@shaw.ca and chiefjudge.virsf@gmail.com for more information.

2024 Schedule (Divisional Judging)

 February 26  Judge registration opens
 April 17, 5:00 pm  Judge registration closes
 Week of April 22  Project assignments are distributed.  Student reports are available for preview
   
 April 28  Judging at the University of Victoria
 8:30 – 9:30 am  Judge orientation in Bob Wright B150
 9:30 – 11:30 am  Round 1 judging – may extend to 12:00 as needed
 11:30 – 1:00 pm  Team meetings to determine Round 1 rankings
 12:00 – 1:00 pm  Light lunch provided for judges
 1:00 – 4:00  Round 2 & 3 judging / Specialty judging
 April 29  Winners are announced

 

2024 Schedule (Specialty Judging)

 12:00 – 1:00 pm   Registration: Name badges, get Project Lists, Marking Forms 
 1:00 – 4:00   Specialty judging
 4:00   Be sure to inform organizers about your Prize Winners

Specialty judging will occur concurrently with Rounds 2 & 3 judging, between 1:00 and 4:00 on April 28. If a Divisional Judge needs to interview students please allow them do their task even if it interrupts your interview.

The marking sheets to be used by judges for the official Divisional evaluation are included below. Specialty judges can use these forms as well, except you (probably) will not have access to the Project reports. If you choose you can use the Specialty Marking Form.

Marking Forms 

Forms for 2024 – 4 projects per page / section marks 1 – 4 (poor, fair, good, excellent)

 

A more general form is available for Specialty Judges (One project per page).
Contains descriptions of project types and expectations.

Lists of Projects for 2024

Specialty judges may find the lists below useful to select the projects to evaluate. Note that these PDF files are about 13 pages long and the print size is relatively small – best viewed on a computer screen. 
Category: Elementary, Intermediate, Junior, Senior
Classification: Life Sciences, Health Sciences, Engineering, etc.


Project Summary Links for 2024: (updated April 26)