Appendix Vi

INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FAIR RULES

Finalists who enter the ISF must follow these rules without exception.

The following code refers to the ISF rules listed below:

S—School Fairs (recommended) R—Regional Fairs (recommended) I—ISF (required)

S-R-I

Categories established for grouping and judging science projects at the ISF are:

Botany Zoology Medicine and Health Biochemistry Chemistry Pure Physics Applied Physics and Engineering Mathematics and Computers Earth and Space Sciences

Entries in any of these categories, if nuclear-related, will be considered for AEC Special Awards at the International Science Fair.

S-R-I

Project exhibit size is limited to 30 inches deep (front to back), 48 inches wide (side to side), and 12 feet high (floor to top). Any project exceeding these dimensions is oversize and does not qualify for entrance in the ISF.

R-I

Each exhibitor must assemble his or her exhibit without major outside help, except for transportation and unpacking.

S-R-I

A typed abstract of the project, using not more than 250 words, is required and must be displayed with the project.

S-R-I

Anything which could be hazardous to public display is prohibited. This includes:

Live poisonous animals may not be displayed.

No dangerous chemical substances such as caustics, acids, highly combustible solids, fluids or gases may be displayed. If such materials are required, inert substitutes should be used.

No open flames are permitted.

Any project producing temperatures exceeding 100°C must be adequately insulated from its surroundings.

Highly flammable display materials are prohibited.

Tanks which have contained combustible gases must be purged with carbon dioxide. No combustible fuel may be displayed.

High voltage equipment such as large vacuum tubes or dangerous ray-generating devices must be shielded and safety checked by a qualified inspector. Students should be cautioned in advance about the dangers of experimenting with such equipment and their work carefully supervised.

S-R-I

No live, warm-blooded animals may be displayed at the ISF. Projects involving the use of such animals may display photographs, drawings, charts or graphs to illustrate the conditions, developments, and results of the investigations. This eliminates the needless shipping, housing, care, harm, discomfort or loss of animals.

S-R-I

During judging the exhibit area is closed to all except judges and authorized personnel. Exhibitors may be present only at a specified time during which they are to remain at their exhibits.

S-R-I

All exhibitors must be interviewed at their projects by at least one judge. The purpose of all interviews is to determine the exhibitors’ familiarity with the project, the science involved, and to give the student an opportunity to meet the judges, react to questions and to discuss their work with a recognized leader. Care must be taken to allow a reasonable interview time within the time limits allotted for judging.

Not more than two students, male or female, may be certified as finalists to the ISF from an affiliated science fair. They must be students in 10th, 11th or 12th year classes in a public, private or parochial school.

A student who will have reached age 21 on or before May 1, preceding the ISF is not eligible to participate as a finalist in the ISF.

A student may enter only one project and it must be his own work. Group projects involving two or more students give experience to beginners and are acceptable in S or R fairs but may not be entered in the ISF.

The identical repetition of previous year’s project is not permitted. However, a student may again exhibit work on a continuing problem provided the work demonstrates considerable progress when compared with the previous year.

Finalists must be accompanied to the ISF by an official adult escort designated and/or sponsored by the regional fair. Responsibility and liability for entry in the ISF rests with the affiliated fair organization which finances the entry, provides transportation for the finalists and their projects, and living expenses during ISF.

Students planning to enter exhibits in the ISF which contain materials that may be regulated by a quarantine should first consult with a Federal or State plant pest control or animal health inspector, a county agricultural agent, or write to the Director, Plant Pest Control Division, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Federal Center Building, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782.

S-R-I Regulations for Experiments With Animals

This guide was prepared and approved by the National Society for Medical Research, the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources (National Research Council), and the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (1968).

1. The basic aims of scientific studies involving animals are to achieve an understanding of life and to advance our knowledge of life processes. Such studies lead to respect for life.

2. Insects, other invertebrates and protozoa are materials of choice for many experiments. They offer opportunities for exploration of biological principles and extension of established ones. Their wide variety and the feasibility of using larger numbers than is usually possible with vertebrates makes them especially suitable for illustrating principles.

3. A qualified adult supervisor must assume primary responsibility for the purposes and conditions of any experiment that involves living animals.

4. No experiment should be undertaken that involves anesthetic drugs, surgical procedures, pathogenic organisms, toxicological products, carcinogens, or ionizing radiation unless a trained life scientist, physician, dentist or veterinarian directly supervises the experiment.

5. Any experiment must be performed with the animal under appropriate anesthesia if pain is involved.

6. The comfort of the animal used in any study shall be a prime concern of the student investigator. Gentle handling, proper feeding, and provision of appropriate sanitary quarters shall be strictly observed. Any experiment in nutritional deficiency may proceed only to the point where symptoms of the deficiency appear. Appropriate measures shall then be taken to correct the deficiency, if such action is feasible, the animal(s) shall be killed by a humane method.

This booklet is one of the “Understanding the Atom” Series. Comments are invited on this booklet and others in the series; please send them to the Division of Technical Information, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. 20545.

Published as part of the ABC’s educational assistance program, the series includes these titles:

Accelerators Animals in Atomic Research Atomic Fuel Atomic Power Safety Atoms at the Science Fair Atoms in Agriculture Atoms, Nature, and Man Books on Atomic Energy for Adults and Children Careers in Atomic Energy Computers Controlled Nuclear Fusion Cryogenics, The Uncommon Cold Direct Conversion of Energy Fallout From Nuclear Tests Food Preservation by Irradiation Genetic Effects of Radiation Index to the UAS Series Lasers Microstructure of Matter Neutron Activation Analysis Nondestructive Testing Nuclear Clocks Nuclear Energy for Desalting Nuclear Power and Merchant Shipping Nuclear Power Plants Nuclear Propulsion for Space Nuclear Reactors Nuclear Terms, A Brief Glossary Our Atomic World Plowshare Plutonium Power from Radioisotopes Power Reactors in Small Packages Radioactive Wastes Radioisotopes and Life Processes Radioisotopes in Industry Radioisotopes in Medicine Rare Earths Research Reactors SNAP, Nuclear Space Reactors Sources of Nuclear Fuel Space Radiation Spectroscopy Synthetic Transuranium Elements The Atom and the Ocean The Chemistry of the Noble Gases The Elusive Neutrino The First Reactor The Natural Radiation Environment Whole Body Counters Your Body and Radiation

A single copy of any one booklet, or of no more than three different booklets, may be obtained free by writing to:

USAEC, P. O. BOX 62, OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE 37830

Complete sets of the series are available to school and public librarians, and to teachers who can make them available for reference or for use by groups. Requests should be made on school or library letterheads and indicate the proposed use.

Students and teachers who need other material on specific aspects of nuclear science, or references to other reading material, may also write to the Oak Ridge address. Requests should state the topic of interest exactly, and the use intended.

In all requests, include “Zip Code” in return address.

Printed in the United States of America USAEC Division of Technical Information Extension, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by underscores.