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CONSEF JUDGES

By volunteering at STEMCON events, you become part of a meaningful mission to help build a brighter and more innovative future.

At the CONSEF Poster Session, nearly 200 dedicated judges come together each year to evaluate outstanding student projects. Beyond scoring, judges play a vital role in mentoring young innovators by sharing their valuable knowledge, professional insights, and real-world experience.

We sincerely appreciate your interest and willingness to contribute your time and expertise. Your participation makes a lasting impact on students and strengthens our STEM community.

Please review the information below to learn more about serving as a CONSEF judge, and click the judge application link to complete your registration.

Apply to be A  Judge

Judges Information

Venue

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Judges' Information

Judging is, without a doubt, one of the most important phases of any science fair. Because of its extreme importance, all judges should carefully review the following:

Science Fair Judging Guidelines

  • Judge each student based on the rating criteria, not in comparison to others.
  • Remember students may have worked for months for a 15-minute interview. Be respectful, ask questions, and show interest.
  • Arrive on time and report to the judging control room upon arrival for updates or changes.
  • Judges will be assigned approximately six or more projects. Each project will be evaluated by three judges.
  • You may judge both Junior (Grades 5–8) and Senior (Grades 9–12) divisions—consider age and maturity.
  • Complete all judging responsibilities and submit scoring sheets promptly. Do not hold rubrics until the end.
  • If a student is absent and cannot be located within a reasonable time, mark the project as a No Show (no rating).
  • Ensure every assigned project receives a final score (do not share scores with students).
  • Be professional, encouraging, and supportive—your impression may influence a student’s future in science.

    • Judging Rubrics

    JUDGING CRITERIA – EXPERIMENTAL PROJECTS

    The following is the criteria for the Concept Science & Engineering Fair judging procedure. THE DECISION OF THE JUDGES IS FINAL. There are four parts (Overall Impression of the Project, Display, Oral Presentation, Written Report) being examined during the judging procedure. Participants are expected to get the maximum available points from each criterion.

    OVERALL IMPRESSION  OF THE PROJECT

    • Scientific Approach : ( max-8 pts) – Well defined problem was solved using scientific principles.
    • Knowledge Gained : ( max-10 pts)- Student has understood the topic, mastered the scientific skills, and answered all questions correctly.
    • Experimental Approach: (max-10 pts)- Dependent and independent variables were defined and control group was in evidence.
    • Reliability of Data : ( max-8 pts) – Data is numerical and metric. Data is reliable with repeated trials.
    • Validity of Conclusion : ( max-5 pts) – Conclusion is consistent with the data provided.
    • Originality : ( max-10 pts) – Topic is original and method is highly creative.

    DISPLAY

    • Information : ( max-7 pts) – Display gives complete explanation with graphs, charts and pictures.
    • Technical Requirements : ( max-4 pts) -Safety and endorsement sheets are displayed.
    • Artistic Qualities : ( max-5 pts) -Backboard is neat, organized, and appealing. No spelling errors.

    ORAL PRESENTATION

    • Presentation Quality : ( max-10 pts) – Clear presentation which is easy to follow. Information is relevant.
    • Dynamics : ( max-10 pts) – Speaks fluently with good eye contact, polite, dynamic, and interested in his/her subject. Not relied heavily on note cards or the board.

    WRITTEN REPORT

    • Order : ( max-5 pts) -Report is neat and in logical order (Title, content, acknowledgements, problem, hypothesis, review of literature, materials, procedure, results, conclusion, reference list).
    • Spelling/Grammar : ( max-3 pts) -No spelling or grammatical error is present.
    • Review of Literature/Reference List : ( max-5 pts) -Quality, quantity, and variety of sources is adequate for topic.

     

    JUDGING CRITERIA – DESIGN PROJECTS

    OVERALL IMPRESSION  OF THE DESIGN PROCESS

    • Design Approach Overall: (max-8 pts) – Has identified a need or real world problem.
    • Knowledge Gained : (max-10 pts) -Exhibits a thorough understanding and the application of the design Student has acquired design skills.
    • Design Approach-Performance Criteria: (max-10 pts) -Clear performance criteria have been developed to address the features of the product, algorithm, proof, model, etc.
    • Constructing and Testing the Prototype: (max-8 pts) -Has constructed and tested a prototype. Data analysis/validation is evident.
    • Validity of Evaluation/Conclusion : (max-5 pts) -Conclusion accurately reports with the success/failure of the design.
    • Originality : ( max-10 pts) – Topic is original and method is highly creative.

    DISPLAY

    • Information : ( max-7 pts) – Display gives complete explanation with graphs, charts and pictures.
    • Technical Requirements : ( max-4 pts) -Safety and endorsement sheets are displayed.
    • Artistic Qualities : ( max-5 pts) -Backboard is neat, organized, and appealing. No spelling errors.

    ORAL PRESENTATION

    • Presentation Quality : ( max-10 pts) – Clear presentation which is easy to follow. Information is relevant.
    • Dynamics : ( max-10 pts) – Speaks fluently with good eye contact, polite, dynamic, and interested in his/her subject. Not relied heavily on note cards or the board.

    WRITTEN REPORT

    • Order : ( max-5 pts) -Report is neat and in logical order (Title, content, acknowledgements, problem, hypothesis, review of literature, materials, procedure, results, conclusion, reference list).
    • Spelling/Grammar : ( max-3 pts) -No spelling or grammatical error is present.
    • Review of Literature/Reference List : ( max-5 pts) -Quality, quantity, and variety of sources is adequate for topic

     

     Awards :

    GOLD: 91-100
    SILVER: 81-90
    BRONZE: 71-80
    HONORABLE MENTION: 70 OR LESS

    The Schedule of the Day

    Click to see the Schedule of the Day

    Sample Questions for Science Fair Judges

    1. What is your name, grade, and school?
    2. Summarize your project.
    a. What is your project about?
    b. What was your hypothesis? Why did you think this would happen?
    c. How was your data collected and analyzed?
    d. What was/were your control(s) and variable(s)? How did you measure them?
    e. Tell me about the experimental process and results.
    3. What is the most important thing you’d like people to know about your project?
    4. How long have you been working on your project? When did you start?
    5. Where did you get the idea for your project?
    6. What research did you do? Approximately how much time did you spend on your research?
    7. Who was your mentor? How did he/she assist you? What did you learn from him/her?
    8. (If there are graphs/charts…) Explain the graph to me.
    9. Can you repeat the conclusions you have drawn with regard to the problem you stated?
    10. Did you keep a daily log on the results of your experiment?
    11. What source of information did you find most valuable in helping you with your project. (Book, magazine, internet, experts, etc.)
    12. Did you work on your project at home or in school?
    13. Did you have to do your experiment more than once?
    14. How much time did your daily observation take?
    15. Did anything unexpected happen during your project?
    16. Did you have any failures? Did you learn something from them?
    17. Do you think you have learned anything of value in doing this project? If so, tell in a sentence or two what you’ve learned.
    18. What did you learn from this project?
    19. If you had to do it all over again, is there anything you’d do differently?
    20. What would be the next experiment you’d like to do?
    21. What was the hardest (or most fun, exciting, etc.) part of this process?
    22. How can you improve your project? Could you make it more scientific? Could you improve your techniques in any way? Could you get more accurate results? Could you improve the quality of your observations?
    23. Do you think you will continue to work on your project? Could you find new problems to solve?
    24. Has this project clarified any basic ideas of science or math for you?