This is a perfect time to lay the foundation for your Science & Engineering Fair project next year. Explore resources on-line and in your community and find questions and problems that interest you and need to be addressed.

• Keep a journal and record trends in weather, traffic outside your window, or price fluctuations.
• Contact your local town or city offices, like the DPW or Public Safety, and ask what projects they are working on or wish more people knew about.
• Listen to Science Podcasts while you walk or help out with chores.
• After some stargazing, visit NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab Education site for summer project ideas.
• Read scientific papers of interest and contact the authors to get more information and make a connection.
• Explore citizen science project options on SciStarter, ScienceNearMe, or Zooniverse
• NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has a ton of resources that can be fascinating to explore like:
• Weather
• Climate Resilience
• Data Visualization
• Explore the Mass Environmental Public Health Tracking portal and learn more about what's going on in your community. Watch this orientation video to learn how.
• Check out MSEF's STEM Sparks talks from the spring and explore areas that may interest you like neuroscience, machine learning, public health, or science communication and policy.

As you explore, jot down questions and observations you have, identify how you would learn more, and think about who you can reach out to with questions.

Summer Interns

MSEF’s Student Interns started their 6-week journey on July 5th and have been hard at work since. After being split into 5 groups, they are focusing on different projects that will improve your Fair experience and allow MSEF to provide you with better resources. Work will conclude during the second week in August, so stay tuned to hear about your peers’ accomplishments. Bravo, Interns!

Schools represented by this summer's Interns include:

The Student Interns want your input!

• This survey is for MS and HS students who participated in the past one or two years of the Fair. Please let us know about your experience here. Your survey results will be analyzed to help us better understand supporting future students.
• This survey is for HS students and aims to gather feedback about the virtual platforms that you commonly use for communication and networking. Please let us know about your experience here. This feedback will be incorporated into the design of the student-mentor platform mentioned above. 

Check out these other student opportunities (note: MS vs HS)

2022 Harvard Science Research Conference (HSRC) held on October 22 and October 23. High School Students can apply for the conference at https://tinyurl.com/hcura-hsrc2022. Applications are due Saturday, August 13, 2022. We encourage you to explore their website at https://hcura.org to learn more about the conference.

Girls STEM Summit Statewide 2022 held on Sunday, October 23 between 8am-4pm at the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Participants must be in grades 8-12. Visit the website to find more information about the summit. *If interested, email Nick before registering.

For STEM competitions, check out 25+ STEM Competitions, Contests, and Challenges. Many line up well with the Science Fair calendar and provide an opportunity to practice your presentations skills. Examples for middle schoolers include building a city of the future, while high schoolers can break out their robot-building abilities among other choices.

Stay tuned for more events coming this fall. Follow us on Instagram for news and updates.

We are so excited to help students across Massachusetts be Science Fair Ready in 2023! Reach out at student@scifair.com any time.

Rebekah Stendahl

Program Director

rstendahl@scifair.com

Advancing science and engineering literacy since 1949, the Massachusetts Science & Engineering Fair (MSEF) was founded by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, MIT professors, and a group of pioneering K-12 science educators. 

MSEF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.