Divisions and Categories

Divisions
Elementary – Grades 3-5
Junior — Grades 6-8
Senior – Grades 9-12

Elementary Categories
Projects are not divided into categories. Elementary Projects will be judged with outstanding projects receiving an "Exemplary Project" plaque. Elementary projects can have from one to three students per projects. A maximum of eight projects from each of the eight regional fairs may be entered at the elementary level from grades 3 through 5.

Junior and Senior Categories
Categories are:

• Biological Science A
• Biological Science B
• Chemistry
• Earth/Environmental Science,
• Physics
• Technology, Engineering.

From one to three students can work on a single project. Each Regional Fair can nominate two entries from each of the six categories for the state level NC Science and Engineering Fair.

Category Descriptions

Great care should be taken in selecting the category for competition that best matches the project. The following descriptions should be of assistance in making the most appropriate decisions. For detailed descriptions of the categories, visit the ISEF web site at http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/project_categories

Biological Science A
Animal Science
Medicine and Health Science
Microbiology

Biological Science B
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Biochemistry
Cellular & Molecular Biology
Plant Sciences

Chemistry
The science of the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems.

Earth/Environmental Science
Geology, mineralogy, physiography, oceanography, meteorology, climatology,
Study of pollution especially related to the environment

Physics
Physics is the science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two.

Technology/Engineering
Technology or Engineering projects that directly apply scientific principles to manufacturing and practical uses.

If you are using the descriptions of categories listed in the ISEF Wizard, use the following table to match their descriptions with the NC State Science and Engineering Fair Categories.