Technology Fair Guidelines
Note: Due to overwhelming interest in our Fair, students may enter only TWO (2) projects. Projects may be submitted from an individual or up to two team members - and in all but the Programming Challenge category, individuals and teams compete against each other. In the Programming Challenge, there are 2 sub categories - 1) for two person teams and 2) for individual competition.
IF a student wins 1st place for both projects - only
ONE is permitted at State level.
Projects are to be designed and created by students. Some adult guidance is
allowed, but it must be clear that work entered by students was done by the
students.
Notebook:
Notebooks are no longer be required. Instead a 2 page document must be filled
out by students which will answer a few questions for the judges and will
document required permissions. This form will be available here shortly.
Copyright Requirements
1. Entries must adhere to all applicable copyright laws.
2. Fair Use Guidelines must be followed.
Section 107 of the
1976 Copyright Act establishes limitations on the exclusive rights of
copyright holders, termed “Fair Use.” These factors to be considered when
determining fair use are:
- a. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
- b. the nature of the copyrighted work.
- c. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
- d. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
3. All copyrighted works used outside the Fair Use Guidelines must include documented permission from the copyright owner. Examples of documented permission include:
- a. Signed letters.
- b. E-mails.
- c. copies of web sites and/or other publications giving a blanket waiver to use the copyrighted material.
4. For public domain music or other media, no letter of permission is needed;
however, the source must be cited in the bibliography.
5. The following bibliographic information required for copyright credit must
include:
- a. Author of original work
- b. Individual title, or specific section of a collected work
- c. Publisher
- d. Copyright date
In compliance with federal copyright laws, if any of the listed bibliographic
requirements are not included, the entry will be automatically disqualified.
Entries are disqualified if information is missing, not if the form of the
bibliographic information is incorrect. Note: If the information is not
available, then entrant must indicate that the information was not available as
part of the bibliographic information. See example (b) below, where the
copyright date is not given.
Examples of correct bibliographic entries:
a. Blau, Melinda. Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?, Raintree
Children’s Books, 1977. (BOOK)
b. “Canary-Whistle”. The BBC Sound Effects Library. Electronic Effects.
Films for the Humanities, Princeton, N.J. no date (RECORD)
6. By entering a project in the Technology Fair, entrants agree to donate the
project to public domain. Computer entries will not be returned to participants.
Attendance, Errors, Etc:
Read the category descriptions before you select your project category. No
changes will be made after the project has been confirmed by the school
technology specialist. After that time, students’ projects will be judged based
on the category for which they registered. Changes in category WILL NOT
be made for any reason the day of the fair. Projects will be judged by the
rubric of the category under which the project was submitted.
Students unable to present their projects, even due to illness, may NOT
use "proxies" unless they are part of the original, registered team representing
a project.