Pocahontas County Science Fair

The Pocahontas County Science Fair Rules are informed by the West Virginia Science and Engineering Fair rules to ensure qualifying projects can advance.

Rules:

All Projects

1. Students must be in grades 3-12 and live in Pocahontas County.
2. Projects can be submitted in groups of up to 3 students. Each student may only enter one project.
3. Homeschool students who contact the school to participate in the fair may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
4. Each project may only include research conducted this calendar year, beginning January 2024.
5. No copying of another researcher’s work is allowed.
6. Projects must follow all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
7. No copying of another researcher’s work is allowed.
8. Projects that are demonstrations, “library” research, informational projects, or “explanation” models are not recommended nor appropriate.
9. No student or school names may appear on abstracts or projects.
10. No students’ or participants’ facial photographs may appear on abstracts or projects.

Project Displays and Videos

11. The display must be no more than 108 inches tall, 48 inches wide, and 30 inches deep, and must be freestanding (does not need to lean against a wall).
12. The following are prohibited from displays:

1. Student or school names
2. Student or participant facial photographs
3. Live animals
4. Flames, highly flammable materials, or heat sources (hot plates, etc.)
5. Dry ice
6. Weapons and ammunition (including toys and replicas)
7. Sharp items (knives, needles, etc.)
8. Tobacco products
9. All hazardous or potentially hazardous substances or devices (poisonous chemicals, drugs, etc.)
10. Batteries with open-top cells (car, motorcycle batteries, etc.)
11. Any item intended for distribution
12. Any personal information, including websites, email accounts, social media handles, etc.
13. Any item prohibited by Board of Education policies
14. Any item a fair coordinator deems to be unsafe or inappropriate.

Competition and Judging

13. Schools may direct judges to use the WV Science & Engineering Science Fair Judging Form on page 17 of the Science & Engineering Fair Project Guide, or they may develop their own judging guide
14. Projects in the same division and the same grade band (elementary, middle, and high school) will be judged against each other.

Prohibited Projects

15. The following are PROHIBITED in all Elementary School (grades 3-5) Science Fair Projects with NO exceptions:
    1. Biological Agents projects that use or study microorganisms, including mold, bacteria, viruses, prions, fungi, and parasites, including those grown in Petri dishes.
16. The following are PROHIBITED in Elementary and Middle School (grades 3-8) Science Fair Projects with NO exceptions:
    1. Vertebrate Animal Research involving pain, withholding of food or water. (All Vertebrate Animal Research should be reviewed by a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and a school-based Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Scientific Review Committee (SRC). 
    2. Hazardous chemicals or reagents, DEA controlled substances, tobacco, alcohol, prescription drugs, firearms, or explosives.
    3. Biological Agents Experiments done at home that use or study microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, prions, fungi, and parasites.
    4. Radioactive substances or equipment that emits any form of ionizing radiation. 
    5. Class IV Lasers (All use of lower-class lasers must be under direct supervision of a qualified adult).
17. The following types of research are discouraged in Middle School but can be permitted with advanced permission. Students must have their projects approved by the school administrator BEFORE starting their research (check if a project requires pre-approval)! 

1. Middle school level students (Grades 6 – 8) are DISCOURAGED from conducting research using biological materials (bacteria, DNA, fungi, molds, etc.) where the materials must be grown or cultured. 
2. Human Subjects may be used only if all experimentation is conducted under adult supervision and student researchers have notified parents of the conditions of the experiment and provided the opportunities for subjects to opt-out of participation. All participants must sign an informed consent form. All guidelines for human participant research must be followed and forms submitted to the student’s teacher and administrator BEFORE experimentation begins.
   1. Human Research must be reviewed by a medical professional to ensure the safety of the student and participants. 
   2. Animal Behavior Studies Research projects should be reviewed by a veterinarian to ensure the safety of the student and animal. All Vertebrate animal studies MUST be of an observational nature and not be done with any animals other than privately owned animals. 
   3. If you wish to do an animal research project, please use invertebrates!

Projects Involving Human Participants

18. All projects involving humans must be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board, which includes an educator, a school administrator, and a medical or mental health professional, before experimentation begins.

19. All human participants must be provided the opportunity to opt-out of participation.
20. All participants (or their legal guardian, if under the age of 18) must sign an informed consent form.
    1. An informed consent form can be found on the ISEF site here.

Projects Involving Non-Human Vertebrate Animals

21. All vertebrate animal research must be reviewed by a Scientific Review Committee, which includes a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, an educator, and one additional member, before experimentation begins. 

22. All vertebrate animal research must be of an observational nature.
23. Vertebrate animal research may not be done on an animal other than a family pet.

Projects Involving Biological Agents (Grades 9-12)

24. Students are discouraged from conducting research using hazardous biological materials (bacteria, DNA, fungi, molds, etc.) where the materials must be cultured.
25. Research determined to be at Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1) must be conducted in a BSL-1 or higher laboratory.
26. Any experimentation that involves bacteria, viruses, prions, fungi, parasites, or any other microorganism that must be cultured should be done in a BioSafety Level 2 Laboratory. 
27. Any project that involves biological agents must be reviewed by a Scientific Review Committee, which includes a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, an educator, and one additional member, before experimentation begins.