Parent to Parent
Contributed by Sandy Walker
Congratulations on your wise decision to allow your child to participate in BASEF 2005!
For many students, BASEF is the first time they are rewarded for their
academic endeavours. Students gain considerable academic and life skills by
researching, experimenting, displaying and presenting their projects. Make no
mistake, all student participants are rewarded with an enriching experience and
a certificate of participation, not to mention the "goodie" bags
containing the official BASEF 2005 tee-shirt and pin, along with other great
gifts. One parent noted that the students were treated like attendees at a
convention. Registration is free and includes an Activity Day
tour to the Ontario Science Centre.
Many students and parents view
science fair projects as a dreaded, compulsory school assignment and have no
idea of the available rewards for successful science fair participants. BASEF
2004 awarded over $165,000 in cash, scholarships and prizes. Twenty four BASEF
students received all expenses paid, Grand Trip Awards to the Canada Wide
Science Fair in St. John's, Newfoundland or the Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair, in Portland, Oregon. Almost 200 students shared in the awards.
Several of our top students received more than $1000 in cash, trips,
scholarships, medals, plaques and trophies. Many of these students won
additional awards at the National and International Fairs.
Team BASEF 2004 was the #1 regional fair team in Canada, winning $45,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships.
Anthony Chiarelli won several special awards in Portland and is one of the top 10 computing science students in the world after an impressive 3rd place award win.
Who says science fair participation is all work with little reward?
Activity Day
As another incentive, we offer all of our participants an Activity Day event. Activity day was established as a reward for our hardworking, budding scientists and engineers. Students have the opportunity to relax after the stresses of judging day, meet other students interested in science and technology, and take part in some fun and educational events.
The format of activity day is changing to better accomodate the growing number of participants. This year we will be offering one event for all students. We have selected the Cinesphere IMAX education series at Ontario Place for Activity Day 2005. In addition to the big screen learning experience that Cinesphere provides, students will participate in a spectacular interactive science show, presented by Mad Science. Activity Day is free and includes transportation and all admission and program fees. Funding permitting, we will also provide lunch.
Parent Responsibilities
Day 1:
Project set up for the fair occurs on Wednesday, March
30, 2005 from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm at Sheridan College. Your child will visit a
registration desk and find out their assigned display area in the gym and
receive information about Activity Day. After the project is set up, one of our
many safety inspectors will ensure that the project meets all safety guidelines.
The registration process and project set up actually takes less than an hour.
Day 2:
Students are required to be at their projects for
judging on Thursday, March 31, 2005 from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm.
Day 3:
Activity Day, Friday, April 1, 2004, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm Students must be
dropped off and picked up at Sheridan for participation in their assigned
activities.
Day 4:
Public Viewing and Awards Ceremony Public viewing takes
place between 9:00 am - 12:00 pm on Saturday, April 2, 2005. This is followed by
the Awards Ceremony from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. We strongly recommend that you
attend the public viewing with your child. It will give you an opportunity to
view all of the great projects on display, and to see your own child doing
presentations for visitors. The Awards Ceremony is the culmination of the Fair
and where the hard work of our students is recognized. NOTE: The Awards
ceremony will take place at St. Volydymyr Church. Shuttle buses will be provided
to transport students and guests to and from Sheridan College starting at
approximately 1:00 pm. Further details will be available on our web site and at
the fair.
Project take down occurs after the Awards Ceremony because many of
our participants are photographed and interviewed by the press in front of their
award winning projects.
Please note:Our trip award winners
and a parent are required to attend a mandatory information meeting
(approximately one hour in length) immediately after the Awards Ceremony.
Miscellaneous:
How to get Sheridan College
A
map, directions to the campus and drop off/pick up areas will be posted in the
near future on the BASEF 2005 website http://basef..ca/2005
Dress
Code:
We suggest neat and casual, with the emphasis on neat.
The science fair experience doesn't end at BASEF.
BASEF students were provided with numerous opportunities to showcase their projects at media and sponsor events. The presentation skills they develop will last a lifetime.
We believe all students should be given the opportunity to
participate in science fairs. Students learn invaluable academic and life skills
through researching, experimenting, displaying and presenting their projects.
The judging process and public viewing components allow students to practise
their "people" skills and gain self confidence and a sense of
accomplishment for a job well done.
Sandy Walker was a Medical Laboratory Technologist, employed as the Diagnostic Unit Manager of Clinical Chemistry at McMaster University Medical Centre until her early retirement. Since her daughter Dayna competed at BASEF 2002, Sandy has been an active volunteer with BASEF and has coached numerous students for science fair competitions. A number of these students have won Grand Trip Awards at BASEF and further awards at the Canada Wide Science Fair. Dayna has earned the unprecedented honour of winning BASEF Best in Fair in 2003 and 2004. Her projects may be viewed at BASEF 2002 , BASEF 2003 and BASEF2004