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Fair Participation Information

Students participating in the fair have put in a lot of hard work on their projects. It is important to make sure that all of the requirements of the San Mateo County STEM Fair have also been met. The Fair tries its best to align its requirements with that of the State Science Fair and national fairs such as the Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge. Please look over the requirements and tips below to make sure your are ready for the fair.

Important Information for the 2026 STEM Fair

  • The 2026 San Mateo County STEM Fair will be held virtually!
  • The San Mateo County STEM Fair is for students in grades 5-8.
  • High school students will not participate in the 2026 San Mateo County STEM Fair.

  • All students grades 5-8 will submit projects using one of the following Google Slides templates:

    Students will be automatically forced to make a copy of the template.

  • All judging will take place virtually via Zoom on March 14, 2026.
    Judges will use your slide deck, in lieu of a tri-fold project board, to judge your project.
  • All 6th - 8th grade students who are selected for the Interview Phase will be notified on March 11, 2026. 5th grade students will not participate in the virtual Fair as this is their initial foray into the STEM Fair world. 5th grade students will receive feedback on their project that will further prepare them for their full participation in grades 6th - 8th.

  • The following resources have been created for students to help them participate in the STEM Fair:

Project Requirements

Students must follow the directions and guidelines below to participate in the fair.

Required Forms for Human Subjects or Biological Experiments

SRC (Scientific Review Committee) Form

Submit SRC forms for approval by December 12, 2025, for students of schools who are not hosting a STEM Fair.
Schools that host their own STEM Fair may set their own submission deadline.

The Scientific Review Committee (SRC) form must be completed by any student, grades 5 through 8, whose project involves (even if only observing or surveying) human subjects, invertebrate or non-human vertebrate animals, recombinant DNA, tissues, pathogenic agents, or controlled substances. This document should be submitted BEFORE the investigation has begun.

Students who attend schools that host their own STEM Fairs will submit the form to their school’s Scientific Review Committee for approval. If their projects are advanced to the San Mateo County STEM Fair, San Mateo County will require proof of the school’s SRC approval upon submission to the Fair.

Students who attend schools that DO NOT host their own STEM Fairs are REQUIRED to submit an SRC to the San Mateo County STEM Fair for approval prior to December 12, 2025 using the link below. If you have questions regarding the SRC form, please contact Robin K. Pang-Maganaris.

SRC Guidelines and forms for the SF Bay Area Science Fair can be found at the ISEF Forms website.

Need more information on the SRC Process?

If you are unsure if you need to submit an SRC Form or the process to do so, please review the SRC Decision Making Flow Chart for more information.

Download Scientific Review Committee Form Submit SRC Form

Informed Consent Form

The Informed Consent Form is required for EACH human subject involved in a student's science project. These forms do not need to be turned in to the San Mateo County Office of Education STEM Fair. They should be kept by the student researcher unless they are requested by the SRC.

Informed Consent Form

Project Submission Guidelines and Template

Presentation Template

Replaces Project Board

Students must use the STEM Fair's google slide template to upload their projects. A maximum of 20 slides are allowed. Detailed instructions for content can be found on each slide. Please follow directions carefully. You will be prompted to make a copy of the slides.

The Experimental Project Template should be used by students conducting an experimental project utilizing the scientific method about how the world works. Typically, these projects involve students defining a hypothesis and conducting an experiment to test the hypothesis.

The Engineering Project Template should be used for students who are designing, building, and testing a solution to a real world problem. Typically, these projects follow the engineering design process rather than the scientific method.

Presentation Scoring Information

Students are strongly encouraged to review the Judges' Scoring Rubrics prior to working on their slides.

For all students in grades 5-8 entering an Experimental Project

Copy Experimental Project Template

For all students in grades 5-8 entering an Engineering Project

Copy Engineering Project Template

Project Registration

Registration Overview

The opportunity to participate in San Mateo County's STEM Fair is granted by schools/districts to students. Typically, schools/districts host a STEM Fair and the winners of these fairs are moved forward to the San Mateo County STEM Fair.

All student registrations to San Mateo County's STEM Fair will require a unique access code provided by a school/district demonstrating that permission has been granted to participate. If you do not have an access code, please do not submit your project – see your school for more information on obtaining an access code.

Project registration will begin on January 12, 2026, and close on February 20, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Please note that the February 20th deadline is a hard deadline. No extensions will be given to students so please plan ahead. Please also note that some schools/districts are on vacation February 13-20 so these students must really pay close attention to deadlines.

Students must convert their Google Slides to a PDF document prior to submitting to the STEM Fair to facilitate judges being able to open documents.

Students will not know if they are moving forward to the Interview Phase of the STEM Fair until March 11, 2026. Students should plan to have the day free because changes to interview time slots will not be possible.

Registration closes February 20, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.

Project Categories

San Mateo County’s STEM Fair categories are changing to better align with the Next Generation Science Standards as well as the California State Science Fair categories.

Students may submit either an experimental or engineering design to any of the categories listed below. Please note that it is the Supervising Teacher’s responsibility to determine the appropriate category for each student’s project. However, the STEM Fair Coordinator has the discretionary right to re-classify projects if they are not categorized correctly.

Behavioral/Cognitive

Studying or solving problems involving behavioral and social sciences, cognitive sciences, survey projects, health science

Life Sciences

Studying or solving problems involving biochemistry, molecular, mammalian biology, microbiology, plant biology, zoology

Physical Sciences

Studying or solving problems involving chemistry, physics, material sciences, electronics, electromagnetics, applied mechanics and structures, alternative energy

Environmental

Studying or solving problems involving earth and environment – air/water, soil /pollution, environmental engineering

Mathematical / Computational

Studying or solving problems using computational systems and analysis, mathematical sciences. Heavy use of modeling, programming, simulations, data analysis/visualization often involved

Product Testing

Studying or solving problems that focuses on evaluating how well consumer or commercial products perform under specific, measurable conditions