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[Role and Duties of the
Citywide STEM Exhibition Council]
[Role and Duties of the
Regional STEM Exhibition Committee]
[Role and Duties of the School
Coordinator]
Part
One: Committee Structures and Functions
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Role and Duties of the
City STEM Exhibition Council
The
City STEM Exhibition Council is composed of
representatives selected by the Area
Instructional Officer from each Area of the
Chicago Public Schools, the Executive
Committee of the city STEM Exhibition, and the
chairpersons of standing committees. The
general duty of the Area representatives is to
coordinate the activities of all the
preliminary exhibitions leading up to the 3021
virtual citywide Exhibition. The council is presided over
by the executive chairperson who serves for
two years.
The specific
duties and responsibilities of the City STEM
Exhibition Council are to:
- Conduct the
annual Chicago Public Schools Student STEM Exhibition, the Student
Science Symposium, and the Annual
Scholarship Program, and administer the
Independent Research Grant Program.
- Maintain
communication with the Chief Education
Officer of the Chicago Public Schools; the
corporate sponsor for the current school
year; and
Illinois Tech.
Recommendations
of the City STEM Exhibition Council are
submitted to the Executive Chairperson for
policy decisions affecting the operation of
the activities of the corporation.
A Board of
Directors representing business, industry,
academic, the school district administration,
and Illinois
Tech work with
the Executive Committee to develop policy and
to raise funds for the activities of the
Student STEM
Exhibition.
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Role and Duties of the
Area STEM Exhibition Committee
Under
the guidance of the Instructional Officers, a
selected group of school administrators and
teachers determine the STEM Exhibition program in the
Area. All policies and procedures that
are developed must be compatible with the city
STEM Exhibition guidelines. Students coming to
the city STEM Exhibition must have
participated in a Chicago regional STEM Exhibition.
Specific duties
and responsibilities of the Area STEM
Exhibition Committee and chairperson are to:
- Use the STEM Exhibition Handbook to
determine categories, physical requirements,
safety regulations, and performance
procedures.
- Enforce the
ruling that all high school exhibits are
individual projects.
- Enforce the
ruling that elementary school projects may
have no more than two students per project
and encourage individual projects.
- Limit
elementary school participation to students
in grades 6-8 at the regional fair. Students
in grades 4 and 5 should only
exhibit if space is available. Priority
should be given to students in grades 7 and
8 when space is limited since they have an
opportunity to compete at the citywide STEM Exhibition.
- Limit
selection to students in grades 7-12 for
entry to the citywide STEM Exhibition at the Illinois
Institute of Technology.
Select no more
than the designated number of outstanding
projects from the grade 6 participants in each
Area for a special program to be arranged on
Saturday during the city STEM Exhibition.
Submit the exhibitor's credentials along with
other applications. Clearly label this
application form "Special Luncheon". The
student(s) will not exhibit the project at
the city STEM Exhibition.
Obtain from the
Chairperson of the Credentials Committee the
Area quota of projects which may be sent to
the city STEM Exhibition at the
Illinois Institute of Technology.
Cooperate with
the other district committees concerning the
scheduling of STEM Exhibitions. Submit an
early decision of STEM Exhibition dates to the
Chairperson of the Credentials Committee. Area
fairs must be completed before February 1.
Obtain the
following supplies or forms through the Office
of Mathematics and Science:
- award
certificates
- human
endorsement request *
- laser
registration forms
- microorganism
endorsement request *
- official
entry forms
- Organizational
Handbooks
- STEM
Exhibition Handbooks
- posters
- recap sheets
- recombinant
DNA endorsement request *
- ribbons and
seals
- scholarship
applications
- vertebrate
animal endorsement request *
Entry Forms There is one
Official Entry Form. Use the current entry
form only. This form should be used for the
Area fair. See the Calendar of Events for the
deadline date. If the project is selected to
go to the city fair, the entry form should be
sent in at the close of the Area fair. A copy
of the entry form should be kept at the Area
Office.
Recap Sheets A Recap Sheet will
be sent to each Area STEM Exhibition
chairperson along with other information and
procedures for submitting the names of the
STEM Exhibition winners from the Area.
This Recap
Sheet is to be completed in
duplicate. Complete all requested information
and send the original Recap Sheet
along with the official entry forms. One copy
is to be retained by the Area STEM Exhibition
chairperson. Attach a copy of the
Abstract, Endorsement (if applicable), and
Consent Form and Release to each entry form. Send the original
Recap
Sheet, Official Entry Forms,
Abstracts, Endorsement(s) (if applicable)
and Consent Form and Releases via the
General Service Route (formerly mail run) or
hand deliver to:
Citywide STEM
Exhibition Coordinator
TBA
Posters An attractive poster
has been designed for display in classrooms,
study halls, and science laboratories. The
graphics appearing on the poster are aimed at
encouraging students who are interested in
science and mathematics to enter their
research work in the STEM Exhibition program.
Award
Certificates, Ribbons, and Seals An ample quantity of
these awards are made available so that all
STEM Exhibition participants at the regional
STEM Exhibition are awarded one of the
following ribbon designations: Outstanding,
Excellent, or Honorable Mention.
Scholarship
Applications Seniors who are
graduating from Chicago public high schools
are eligible to apply for scholarships,
provided they are participating in or have
participated in the Chicago Public Schools
Student STEM Exhibition activities at the
regional level or city level. This includes
projects, symposiums and/or the essay
contests. Scholarships are both monetary
awards and college and university
scholarships. Scholarship forms are sent to
every high school science department
chairperson and to the guidance department.
These forms are also in the appendix of the
STEM Exhibition Handbook.
Handbooks Quantities of the
STEM Exhibition Handbook and the
Organizational Handbook (for coordinators,
administrators, and teachers have been
allocated to each school. The Calendar of
Events for the entire year is included in the
Organizational Handbook. Each student selected
to participate in the city STEM Exhibition
should be given a STEM Exhibition Handbook.
Students selected to participate in the state
STEM Exhibition and the International Science
and Engineering Fair will receive those
respective handbooks.
Vertebrate
Animal Endorsement Forms * Projects which
utilize vertebrates must include a Non-Human
Vertebrate Animal Endorsement or Humans as Test
Subjects Endorsement form completed
according to the directives contained in the
STEM Exhibition Handbook and must follow all
rules. The Scientific Review Committee will
approve or disapprove all requests for
permission to participate in vertebrate
research. If a Vertebrate Animal Endorsement
or Human Endorsement is issued, it must
accompany the Official Entry Form. A copy must
be included in the student's research paper.
Microorganism
Endorsement Forms * Projects which
utilize microorganisms not on the approved
list must include a Microorganism Endorsement.
A form to request this certificate is found in
the Participants Handbook, should be completed
according to the directives contained in the
STEM Exhibition Handbook, and must adhere to
all rules. This certificate must accompany the
Official Entry Form. The Scientific Review
Committee issues the endorsement.
Recombinant DNA
Endorsement Forms * All research
involving recombinant DNA techniques must meet
the requirements of the National Institute of
Health guidelines for research involving
recombinant DNA molecules. Such studies must
only be conducted in a registered research
laboratory under the guidance of a biomedical
scientist who is approved to conduct such
studies by an appropriately constituted and
registered Biosafety Committee and who is
approved by the Scientific Review Committee of
Science Fair, Inc. A form to request this
certificate is found in the STEM Exhibition
Handbook. This certificate must
accompany the Official Entry Form.
Laser
Registration Forms All lasers at the
local, regional, and city levels must be
registered with the State of Illinois. Obtain
registration forms from:
Kristian Coerper
Kenwood Academy
GSR #41
Email: kcoerper@cps.edu
Selection of
Exhibits for the City STEM Exhibition Projects chosen at
the Area STEM Exhibition should be selected
from the projects which were rated as
outstanding. Only projects which exhibit
independent research should be sent to the
city STEM Exhibition. The project should
involve a controlled experiment and not simply
be a "show and tell" type of display.
Each Area fair
is encouraged to send the best representative
exhibitors to the city STEM Exhibition. The
quota of projects received from the
Chairperson of the Credentials Committee is
the only limiting factor. No consideration
should be given to the distribution of the
exhibitors among the categories. In all cases,
the best projects should be selected
regardless of the category, grade, or school
of the students.
If an Area STEM
Exhibition does not use all of its quota, or
if a STEM Exhibition needs more than the
assigned quota because of the number of
outstanding projects, the regional fair
chairperson should contact the Chairperson of
the Credentials Committee. (See this page)
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Role and Duties of the
School Coordinator
Principals
are to designate a school STEM Exhibition
coordinator to represent the school at Area
STEM Exhibition meetings and coordinate the
school STEM Exhibition. School
coordinators are responsible for the
following:
- Instill in
students an interest in research and
indicate the intrinsic values that can be
derived from independent investigations.
- Point out
that the STEM Exhibition and the science
symposium and essay contests present
opportunities for further student
independent study.
- Indicate that
the sharing of ideas with other students and
leading scientists at city, state, and
national levels is the cornerstone of these
programs.
- Assist
students in selecting and developing their
ideas for research projects and/or
scientific papers. Where possible, make
available resource information in the form
of books, periodicals, and physical
equipment.
- Discuss with
the students how to develop a project and
show results of past research projects.
- Distribute a
STEM Exhibition Handbook to those who show
promise.
- Assist in
research grant applications and Advise-a-
Student applications when projects meet the
criteria.
- Arrange
periodic small group discussions of progress
on projects and provide opportunities to
analyze and solve problems related to
individual projects.
- Help students
obtain and share equipment and supplies
while determining that each project meets
the safety requirements as outlined in the
STEM Exhibition Handbook.
- Solicit the
cooperation of other faculty members for
facilities and services helpful in the
guidance of students in their research and
in the writing of their research papers.
- Determine,
along with the principal, teachers, and
students, the method of selecting projects
for advancement to the regional fair, using
the guidelines of the city STEM Exhibition
found in the STEM Exhibition Handbook.
- Cooperate
with the Area STEM Exhibition Committees.
See that students are prepared and that
current student entry forms are completely
filled out and submitted on time.
- Review with
students requirements for the Area fairs and
the city STEM Exhibition.
- Inform high
school seniors of the scholarship program.
- Encourage
participation of younger students by
explaining the program and the eligibility
requirements.
Endorsement requests MUST be made PRIOR to
experimentation in order to ensure the
safety of the test subject(s) and/or the
scientist. The project plans are
reviewed by the Scientific Review Committee
and, if safe, the endorsement is granted and
the experiment may be carried out.
Permission to carry out an experiment CANNOT
be given to one that has already been
completed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To insure that you
are using the latest endorsement forms you
should clear your browser's cache before
viewing any of the endorsements. (See
these instructions.)
Most of the
items may be submitted electronically (see
below) and only one copy needs to be
submitted. HOWEVER, if they are
printed and subsequently mailed in, TWO copies
are required.
Depending on
the browser you are using, you may need to
save the form and then open it with Adobe
Reader X (or better), type in the information,
print and sign it, scan it and then send the
scanned in image electronically by attaching it to an
e-mail message. Note that only one copy
is needed if the form is submitted via e-mail.
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