North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair

Across North Carolina, students in grades 3-12 have been participating in local science fairs, sharing excitement over their research and engineering projects and dreaming of being selected to continue to higher competitions.  The top projects will be nominated to continue on to the nine NC Regional Science and Engineering Fairs.  The NC Regional Fairs begin on February 14 and end on February 28.  Information on the regional fairs may be found at http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair/regions.   Each Regional Fair can send eight elementary projects, eight junior projects and eight or ten senior projects to the state NC Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Raleigh at Meredith College on March 27-28, 2009. 

The NC Science and Engineering Fair seeks to encourage independent scientific research and inquiry-based learning to promote higher order thinking in our students and teach them about careers in science and engineering.  The research involved in a science fair project can instill an understanding and love of science and teach students to solve problems and analyze data. This experience is an excellent recruitment tool for the next generation of scientists. 

The Science Fair works to be a catalyst for students to participate in individual scientific research by offering recognition and awards for the students’ work.   At the State Fair, students will be eligible for scholarships, cash awards, plaques, certificates of achievement, and many special awards.   The State of NC Science and Engineering Fair projects will be open to the public on Saturday, March 28, 2009 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at Meredith College in Raleigh. 

Volunteers are needed to assist with the Fair.  Individuals interested in assisting can sign up at http://ncsef.sfiab.com.  Additional information for the fair can be found at our home web site at http://www.ncsta.org/sciencefair or by contacting Judy Day, Fair Director, at Judy_Day@ncsu.edu.

North Carolina Envirothon

The Envirothon is a hands-on team competition for High school and Middle school students on natural resources/current issues.  The five subject areas are: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, wildlife, forestry and current environmental issues.  We have regional competitions, which qualify teams for the state competition.

The 8 regional competitions are starting registration now for the 2009 competitions. They start on March 13 and end on April 5, 2009.  The state competition is on April 24-25, 2009 at Cedarock Park just outside of Burlington.

The State winning high school team gets a trip to the 2009 North American Canon Envirothon competition to compete against other teams from the United States and Canada.  North Carolina is hosting the 2009 national competition this year in Asheville on August 2-8, 2009.

If you want to field a team contact your local Soil & Water Conservation District.  If you do not know the number for your local S&WCD, please call 919-733-2302 or check out our web site at ncenvirothon.org.

We have our resources on our web site with more information on the Envirothon.

There were over 350 Envirothon teams participating in the middle school and high school levels in North Carolina.  For more information about Envirothon, please contact Steve Bennett at (steve.bennett@ncmail.net) 919-791-4307.