Enrichment · STEM Explorations

Approval first.
Then the experiment.

Science fairs disqualify good projects every year for one reason: the data came before the approval. If your project involves people, animals, microbes or hazards, a review has to sign off first. Mark what yours involves and the page lists the approvals, forms and steps, with the days left before you start.

Check a projectWhat you get

Your projects

The worked example is made up: a sleep and screen-time survey waiting on its review board, and a bacteria project that needs a proper lab. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · STEM ExplorationsFree

What you finish with
A record per project: title, grade band, fair, start date, what it involves, participants planned and eleven ethics and approval steps. Lists the reviews needed, counts open steps and days to the start; flags approval before data, consent and assent for minors, vertebrate animal limits, biosafety, risk assessments and fairs with other rules.
Who it is for
Middle and high school students doing independent or science fair research, and the teachers and adult sponsors who sign off on it.
Format
Browser checklist with a saved record per project. Prints one project’s approvals and steps, every project in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The STEM Explorations space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Describe the project and the start date.
  2. Mark what it involves.
  3. Read the approvals it needs.
  4. Work through the steps with your adult sponsor.
  5. Start only when every approval is signed.

Check a project

What it needs first

What your project needs before it startsProject involvesReviewAlsoPeople: surveys, testsreview board (IRB)consent and assent formsVertebrate animalsreview committee (SRC)no more than momentary painMicrobes or tissuereview committee (SRC)a biosafety level and labHazards: chemicals, devicesrisk assessmenta designated supervisorNone of theseresearch plan and formssponsor signatureWhat your project needs before it startsPeople: surveys, testsReview: review board (IRB)Also: consent and assent formsVertebrate animalsReview: review committee (SRC)Also: no more than momentary painMicrobes or tissueReview: review committee (SRC)Also: a biosafety level and labHazards: chemicals, devicesReview: risk assessmentAlso: a designated supervisorNone of theseReview: research plan and formsAlso: sponsor signature
The pattern follows the International Rules for Precollege Science Research used by ISEF-affiliated fairs. Your fair’s own rules book decides.

Surveys count

A survey of classmates is research with people, even if it is short and anonymous. It needs review board approval before anyone answers it, and minors need a parent’s permission and their own agreement. The board may decide some surveys are minimal risk, but it decides, not the student.

Privacy

Collect only what the question needs. Use codes instead of names, keep any list linking names and codes separate, and say on the consent form who will see the data and when it will be deleted.

Sources

  1. Society for Science. International Rules for Precollege Science Research: Guidelines for Science and Engineering Fairs, current edition (societyforscience.org).
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Belmont Report (1979): respect for persons, beneficence, justice (hhs.gov/ohrp).
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Institutes of Health. Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories, 6th edition (cdc.gov).
  4. National Science Teaching Association. Safety in the science classroom (nsta.org).

The worked examples are made up. Your fair’s current rules book and its review committee decide what is needed. This page is a checklist and approves nothing. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.