For many VSB students, March began at Langara College with nervous but excited energy. Almost 100 projects were presented at this year's Vancouver District Science Fair (VDSF). The VDSF is VSB's annual science fair where students from across the District showcase their research, experiments and innovations.
The 2024 VDSF was a hybrid fair where students could participate for in-person or virtual judging. The science fair saw 128 students from over 15 schools, including three elementary schools. Students spent anywhere from four to eight months researching, testing and practicing presentations of their findings.
The youngest participant was a Grade 5 exhibition project from Osler MACC, and the oldest a trio of Grade 12 students from David Thompson Secondary who have presented at VDSF for the past six years. Organizers were thrilled with how the fair went this year, sharing, "VDSF has always been a celebration of scientific talent across the District, and this year's roster was particularly well-balanced between engineering and the natural sciences."
Staff added, "participants programmed apps, built devices to address a variety of challenges, counted plant or animal species, and proposed better uses of our natural resources."
The showcase began on Feb. 26 where judges evaluated projects through Microsoft Teams. The judging concluded on March 1 with in-person presentations at Langara College. Judges were educated or are currently working in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. They judged the projects off three sections: scientific thought, originality and creativity, and communication.
All VDSF judges were volunteers. The online format of this year's fair allowed many, who once judged in-person but have since moved away from Vancouver, to judge from their new homes in Saskatchewan, South Africa and more. Organizers at the VDSF shared how thankful they were to all 54 judges who spent the time volunteering.
"[We are] very grateful for these folks!" expressed one organizer. "[Judges] are required to spend three hours whether virtual or in-person. A few did double duty this year, either judging in-person for the full evening or doing both virtual and in-person judging."
VDSF 2024 finalists were announced live at the closing ceremony on March 5, 2024, where 73 projects qualified to advance to the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair (GVRSF).
For parting wishes staff added, "congratulations to everyone who presented projects this year and thank you to all the teachers, caregivers, mentors, student volunteers, and behind-the-scenes cheerleaders who supported them. All the best to those moving on to the regional fair at UBC next month!"
The 2024 GVRSF will be hosted at the University of British Columbia from April 4 - 6, 2024. VSB students will be part of the 10 school districts in the Lower Mainland area, including students from grades 7 to 12 attending public, independent, private and home schools.
