EarthStorm

Project Competition

The Oklahoma Mesonet Science Fair is open to all schools. Projects are limited to those using weather data. Students are encouraged to use weather data provided by the Oklahoma Mesonet, ARM, Storm Prediction Center (SPC), or National Weather Service (NWS). Projects may be submitted by an individual or by groups of three or less.

Unattended projects are accepted but not encouraged. Attended projects are scored on a scale of 100 points while unattended projects are scored on a scale of 85 points. The student interview is extremely important to help the judges determine whether or not the student completed the project by himself or herself, the student’s ability to articulate the development of the project, and express how the student arrived at the conclusions.

Project Types		Experiment: An investigation undertaken to test a specific hypothesis using experiments.
		Investigation: A collection and analysis of data to reveal evidence of a fact or situation of scientific interest. It could include a study of cause and effect relationships involving social, political, or economic considerations; in-depth studies; theoretical investigations.
		Technology: Involving the development and evaluation of innovative devices, models or techniques or approaches in fields such as technology, engineering or computers (both hardware and software).

Categories

Agriculture and Biology, Behavioral Sciences, Climatology, Forecasting, Moisture, Soil Temperature, Solar Radiation, Standard Weather Parameters, Technology and Economics, and Weather Systems.

Divisions

The above categories are divided into junior and senior divisions, where the junior division is grades K-7 and the senior division is grades 8-12.

Judging Process		Preliminary Judging: Each student will be interviewed by a 2-person judging team. The judges will score each project using the judging criteria sheet. These scores will focus on the information provided during the interview. The average score will determine the projects award level.
		Best in Show Judging: Projects receiving a Superior Rating in the Preliminary Round of judging are eligible for Best in Show honors. The preliminary scores are dropped and do not factor into the Best of Show honors. Each judging team will visit the Superior projects they did not interview. The non–interviewing–judges will focus on the information conveyed on the project display and the project journal. They will focus on inconsistencies, misconceptions, data errors, correct usage of graphs and charts, and whether or not the student’s conclusions make sense based on the data collected. After Superior projects have been seen by all of the judges, each judging team will give a brief description of the projects and their impressions during the interviews. Non-interviewing-judges have the opportunity to discuss their impressions of the project display and journal. The judges then rank the projects for Best in Show honors.
		The judges will score each project using the judging criteria sheet. These scores will focus on the information provided during the interview. The average score will determine the projects award level.

Scoring Criteria

	Attended Projects Max. Points	Non-Attended Projects Max. Points
Scientific Thought and Creativity	50	50
Display	15	15
Weather Data	15	15
Methodology	5	5
Interview	15
Total	100	85

Award Levels

Projects are rewarded based on the average score from the 2–person-judging team.

Superior	A Score of 80-100
Excellent	A Score of 60-79
Honorable Mention	A Score of 40-59

Best In Show

All projects receiving a Superior award from their judging team are eligible for Best in Show honors. The Best in Show awards include 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place for both junior and senior divisions. The judges are not required to grant all six of these awards. The number of Best in Show awards granted is determined at the discretion of the entire panel of judges. The judges’ decisions are FINAL.