Science Fair Participation
As one of 14 district science days in the state, Mohican District Science Day (District 4 of the OAS) is just one of many opportunities available to students in the Ashland community. Participants from schools in Richland, Wayne, Holmes, Medina, Lorain, Huron and Erie counties are also welcome. Students from schools that do not hold science fairs are welcome, so long as their projects follow Ohio Academy of Science (OAS) standards and they obtain special permission from the director.
Fields of Entry
- Animal Sciences
- Behavioral and Social Sciences
- Biochemistry
- Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Biomedical Engineering
- Cellular and Molecular Biology
- Chemistry
- Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
- Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Embedded Systems
- Energy: Sustainable Materials & Dynamics
- Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics
- Environmental Engineering
- Material Science
- Mathematics
- Microbiology
- Physics and Astronomy
- Plant Sciences
- Robotics and Intelligent Machines
- Systems Software
- Translational Medical Science
Team Projects
Team Projects are accepted at all District Science Days. Individual and team projects will be evaluated equally when District Science Day directors select projects to attend State Science Day.
Teams must meet the following standards to participate in District Science Days:
- Teams must consist of two or three students.
- A Local Science Day may limit teams to two students due to local limitations.
- Local teams may not remove team members to qualify for District or State Science Days.
- In a given academic year, a team project may not be converted to an individual project or vice versa.
- In a subsequent academic year, a continuing project may add or remove members as long as at least one student from the original project is retained and the maximum number of team members is not exceeded.
- In a subsequent academic year, a continuing team project may be converted to an individual project or vice versa.
- All team members must be present to be judged at District and State Science Days. If any team member is not present, the project will be disqualified.
- All team members must belong to the same school and same grade brackets:
- Grades 5-6
- Grades 7-8
- Grades 9-12
- Each team must appoint a team leader to coordinate work and act as primary spokesperson. However, each member should be able to serve as spokesperson, be fully involved with the project and be familiar with all aspects of the project. The final work should reflect the coordinated efforts of all team members.
- Judges will ask each team member for a one- or two-sentence description of what they consider to be their most important contribution to the project.
- A supplemental sheet of contributions each member made to the team project must be signed by each member. To attend District and State Science Days, this sheet must be displayed with the project and included in the research notebook, project report and applications.
- The full names of all team members must appear on the abstract and registration forms.
The Day of the Science Fair
Mohican District Science Day takes place at the Myers Convocation Center at Ashland University (see campus map). Projects should be unloaded in the upper parking lot. Once unloaded, please park in one of the lots indicated on the campus map. You can enter the Myers Convocation Center from Broad Street (parallel to Claremont) or Jefferson Street (between the university and Burger King). Cars left unattended and unparked will be ticketed.
Projects must remain on display until after the awards ceremony. Free-standing floor exhibits are not permitted. Electricity will not be provided at District or State Science Days. No experiments may be conducted during District or State Science Days.
- The front doors will open at 7:30 a.m.
- Registration and set up of projects will begin at 7:30 a.m. With more than 200 exhibitors, students are urged to arrive promptly.
- Students are required to pick up ID cards with space numbers at the door. Projects must be ready for judging no later than 9 a.m.
- Judging takes place from 9 a.m. to noon.
- The awards ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. and is planned to end by 3 p.m.
- Students (or assigned representatives of students) who receive superior ratings and are eligible for State Science Day must be in attendance at the conclusion of the ceremony.
Judging takes place from 9 a.m. to noon. During this time the exhibit area will be reserved for students and judges only. Each project will be judged twice, with additional judging for special awards continuing until noon. If a student is absent when the judge arrives, their project will be disqualified.
Until judging has ended, parents and other attendees are encouraged to visit other areas or events on campus, such as the Campus Store or university information programs. Campus cafeteria pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase in the lobby of the Convocation Center.