Tidewater Science Fair Coming to ODU March 12

Students in grades 6-12 from throughout southeastern Virginia will compete Saturday, March 12, in the Tidewater Science Fair at Old Dominion University. This 60th annual fair has been organized by the Tidewater Science Congress, and ODU is a sponsor as well as the host.

Members of the ODU faculty and staff serve as judges, coordinators and college admissions advisers during the all-day event. Michael Overstreet, associate dean of the ODU College of Sciences, serves as a member of the governing board of the Tidewater Science Congress.

All portions of the fair will be in ODU's Webb Center. Registration will be from 7-7:30 a.m. in the front lobby. The opening ceremony for exhibitors, parents and teachers will be at 8:30 a.m. in the North Cafeteria and will feature remarks by Anne Mannarino, president of Tidewater Science Congress, and Carol Simpson, ODU's provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Judging of the nearly 300 projects expected to be entered in the competition will begin about 8:45 a.m. and the presentation of awards will be from 2-4 p.m. in the North Cafeteria. The public will be allowed to view the projects and displays from 12:30-1:30 p.m.

An ODU panel consisting of Nechell Bonds, director of undergraduate admissions, Terri Mathews, assistant dean of the College of Sciences, and Linda Vahala, associate dean of the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology, will discuss college admissions at a presentation from 8:45-9:30 a.m.

From 9:30 -11:30 a.m. there will be special programs and campus tours for the teachers and families of students whose projects will be competing in the fair.

Participation in the fair is open to students in public and private schools, as well as those who are home-schooled, from Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Isle of Wight, Gloucester, Newport News, Hampton, York County, Poquoson, Williamsburg, James City County, Southampton County, Franklin and Accomack County.

Main sponsors in addition to ODU are Jefferson Lab; Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association, Hampton Roads chapter; Information Systems Security Association; New Horizons Governor's School for Science and Technology; Prevailance Inc.; Hampton Roads Technology Council; Tidewater Association of Service Contractors; American Society for Civil Engineers; and the following individuals, Philip J. Dabney, Stephen J. Kelley, John and Jane Oakes, Danny Peters, and Teresa and Tim Duvall.

The fair follows rules of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and accepts exhibits from the following categories: animal sciences, behavioral and social sciences, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, earth and planetary science, electrical and mechanical engineering, materials engineering and bioengineering, energy and transportation, environmental sciences, mathematics, medicine and health sciences, microbiology, physics and astronomy and plant sciences.

First-place winners in the high school division of the regional fair will qualify for the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair April 1-2 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on the ODU campus. Competitors at the state fair will be vying for the chance to represent the state in the international fair.

(For registration and other information about the state fair, go to http://vssef.odu.edu/.)

About 30 special awards from companies and organizations will also be given at the regional fair.

The director of the Tidewater Science Fair is Dell Young. The fair's website is at http://cs.odu.edu/~scifair/RegionalFair/index.html.