Teachers

Ways to take part

• A class project. Many teachers assign the science fair as a class project. The science fair fits the Scientific Inquiry continuum (elementary) and the Scientific Investigation Skills strand (secondary) of the Ontario curriculum.
• A school fair first. Some schools run their own fair and send the winners to our regional fair, using the school quota.
• Independent students. Some students do a project on their own and ask for help with registration. That works too.

A simple way to start

1. Show students the student guide so they can see what is expected and when it is due.
2. Have students choose an experiment or a study, and subject areas and a challenge, early.
3. Check each idea against Is my project allowed? before any data is collected.
4. Give students time to write the report. It is the part that is locked at the deadline.
5. Younger students in Grades 1 to 5 can enter Science on the Wall.

Step by step

1. Log in or create an account.
2. Join as a teacher for this fair year. Pick your school.
3. Students create their own accounts, join as students and register a project, naming you as the sponsoring teacher.
4. When a student submits their final project, you get an email.
5. Log in and review the project in your teacher project list, then approve it there.
6. Submission and your approval both need to happen by Monday, March 8, 2027 at 11:59 p.m.. After that the registration and report are locked.

Project quota

Each school selects its own entries. The number of entries depends on the number of students in the grade:

You choose how to pick your school's entries. If you have questions, contact chair@ucsfair.org.

What your approval means

When you approve a project in the portal, you confirm that the way the project will be carried out is safe and ethical, and that it is the students' own work. In particular:

• No testing on animals with a backbone (vertebrates). Students may only observe them in their natural habitat.
• Any testing on people, even a survey, needs a signed consent form from each participant. Nothing students eat or drink is allowed.
• Anything involving micro-organisms, DNA or lasers has been cleared with the chair.
• Firearms and explosives are never eligible.

The display safety check

This is separate from your approval. While students set up on Friday, April 2 evening, every display is safety-checked. Displays can't have open liquids, chemicals, flames, hot or exposed electrical items, sharp or moving parts, or lasers. Problems must be fixed or the project is disqualified. The full list is on Build your display.