Joplin, MO – The 37th annual Missouri Southern Regional Science Fair (MSRSF) will be held March 24, on the third-floor ballroom of Billingsly Student Center at Missouri Southern State University.
The competition for high-school and middle-school students is affiliated with the Society for Science and the public. Individual or team projects are accepted from students in the following counties: Vernon, Barton, Jasper, Newton, McDonald, Barry, Lawrence, Cedar, Dade, and St. Clair in Missouri; Neosho, Crawford, Montgomery, Labette, Bourbon, and Cherokee in Kansas.
This year’s fair will include 77 projects in the junior category (grades 5-8) and 15 projects in the senior category (grades 9-12) from 10 local schools. Categories include behavioral and social sciences; cell, molecular, and microbiology; chemistry and biochemistry; computer science, engineering, and mathematics; earth and environmental sciences; human and animal sciences; physics and astronomy; and plant sciences.
Closed judging will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., with public viewing from 1 to 5 p.m.
Missouri Junior Academy of Science presentations will be from 12:45-2:45 p.m. on March 24 in Reynolds Hall in rooms 204, 232, and 235. High-school and middle-school students write a formal research paper and then present their project during a 12-minute talk. Students may enter both the science fair and junior academy of science with the same project. The presentations and papers are judged and given a rating of I, II, or III. Both senior and junior participants are eligible for the state competition.
An awards ceremony for both MSRSF and MJAS will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in Corley Auditorium.
Science fair first-place winners in all categories will receive medals and cash prizes. Grand prize winners (two senior divisions and two junior divisions) will receive certificates and cash prizes.
Starting this year, all category winners in junior and senior divisions will participate in the Show-Me Science MO state science fair on April 15 and 16. The two senior grand prize winners will be nominated to participate in the International Science and Engineering Fair, to be held May 9-15 in Phoenix, AZ.
Three participants from the junior division will have an opportunity to participate in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovative Challenge.