Tag: TCRSF

Changes at TCRSF – Please Read Carefully!

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The 2026 Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs have made some stunning changes fairly late in the Game.

The Location:  The event has moved from Coliseum to the North End Event Center, on Murphy Avenue between Cooper and Cosgrove. 

Second:  The Fair is now split into two events, with the Middle School kids' fair in the Morning of Friday, Feb 27th and the High School Fair in the evening.

For all the details, see TCRSF's Fair Weekend Details  The highlights:

Middle school

  • Volunteers arrive at 7:30 AM, with kids check-in starting at 8:30 AM.
  • Judging from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
  • Kids will remove all projects on Friday to make room for the High School Fair, to be completed by 1:30 PM

High School

  • Later Volunteers arrive at 1:30 PM
  • Students check in and set up 2:00 PM to 3:45 PM
  • Judging from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM (or later if needed)
  • Tentatively 8:30 PM the high school kids will remove their projects.

Reminder: parking for our event is free. For 2026, we are at the North End Event Center at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds (while the coliseum is being renovated). Judges and volunteers are treated to a catered dinner buffet on Friday, February 27, 2026, 4 pm to close.

Sunday, March 1 is the Award Ceremony, back at the Event Center

  • 11:00 Am - 12:00 PM Students arrive, pick up packets and ribbons
  • 12:00 PM to about 2:00 PM - Award Ceremony and Final Cleanup

Please make note of questions or comments and we'll do our best to find answers.

  • Phill

TCRSF 2024 – Science Fair is History Now

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Throughout March we've been pitching in on the Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs, thanks to everyone who helped.  Mary Pucel and Phill Goldman read through the research papers.   Jim Kline and Phill judged projects the night of the event.  Lynne kept the data systems flowing and trained the next generation of data entry folks. And Pam Kline kept us all on track from the bleachers.

How many of these winning project titles do you want to read

  • Development of Novel Biodegradable Bioplastics using Mango Peels Intended for Packaging Film (Alyssa Wang)
  • SignalGrab: A Machine Learning Approach to Helping Color Blind Drivers (Bora Mandic)
  • The Required Distance between the Fluxonium Qubit and the Ground Plane for Optimal T1 Times (Dylan Tate, Garrett Garms)
  • The Effectiveness of Biochar as an Amendment on the Growth of Raphanus Sativus in MGS-1 Mars Global Stimulant and the Development of a Model for Regeneration of Water and Oxygen for Life Support Sustenance on Mars (Sriram Sureshkumar)
  • Using iron and graphene oxide nanoparticles to induce targeted apoptosis in cancerous cells (Georgia Constantin)

Impressive, every one - and all of them sound like Star Trek Dialogue!  The future is now, kids!

After setting up for the awards and tearing down, I'm struck by how much talent these young scientist have, and how much they are willing to help.

Looking ahead, the 2025 edition will take place back at the Warner Colloseum at the State Fairgrounds, Friday February 28th through Sunday March 2nd. And in 2026, we'll have a new venue while the Colloseum is renovated.  Come see what's new, and help out where you can.

  • Phill

 

Twin Cities Regional Science Fair, March 1st and 3rd

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Join us at the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair!  Let's pitch in to help in our 31st year involved with the Fair.

Setting Up

We don't have to move tables and chairs in and out of trucks like before, but we do have to cover the the tables and mark the competition spaces;  we need to add the numbers to the table locations.   We also need to set up the IT systems (easily 12 PCs, several large-size displays, and three printers).  Finally, a fair like this with sponsors has a lot of signs to put up  around the area.  More hands make light work, please come along and help on March 1st starting about 7-8AM.   Breakfast snacks and coffee are usually provided, along with a lunch prior to the students' arrival.

Judging

The main judging is on March 1st starting at about 4PM. The Fair needs "judges to judge both within their expertise and educated judges to judge outside their field of expertise so that the students will have to clearly present their projects to scientists who may not know the jargon of the project." They ask that judges for the complicated high school projects have experience, and this is defined on their website. However, don't let the lack of a science background stop you if you'd like to participate, as there are also middle school projects to judge. It's super fun to chat with students who dissolve teeth in Coke and lemon juice, or grow plants under various colors of light, or experiment with bugs or worms. You're guarteed to learn something!

Logistics

In a fair this big there are definitely a lot of moving pieces and a lot of data.  We need people to help check kids in, to record data during the event, and hospitality.   If you have time to help keep the main show moving, please consider joining in from about 2PM until judging is complete.

Award Ceremony and Take Down

We get a Saturday off, then return at about 9AM on Sunday March 3rd for the award ceremony, thene we undo a lot of what we did on Friday starting at 11:30.

Both parking and a light supper & snacks are provided (catered) for judges and volunteers.  Naturally, we'll go out to eat as a group after the judging is over, because we do that.

Go to www.tcrsf.net to sign up and find out all the info you need.

Twin Cities Regional Science Fair Recap

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The 2020 Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs were fun, educational, and a great way to give back to the kids in the Cities. Five Nokomisites braved the arena at the Fairgrounds on February 28th and 29th and met some amazingly talented young people who made us encouraged for the future.

How many of these projects could you do?

  • "The Physics of Flipping Cats"
  • "How doe the type of flour affect the size of a cookie?"
  • "Mycoremediation of Organic Environmental Contaminants"
  • "Expressing the sMMO genes from Methylosinus trichosporium in Escherichia coli for the biocatalysis of methanol production using methane".

This was our 27th year at the Fair, we've helped out every year since 1994. Let's spend our Bonus Leap Day helping the kids!

In 2021, the event happens on February 26th.  Mark your calendars!  If you've got a science background and know about scientific method, please volunteer to judge projects.

Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs 2020

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Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs

 will be held at the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds, on

February 28-29, 2020

We've helped out every year since 1994, please help us help the Kids Create the Future.  Let's spend our Bonus Leap Day helping the kids!

Setup starts at 9AM on the 28th. We don't need to haul all the heavy tables and chairs, our particular set of skills is the detailed work with signs, power, and logistics.  Lunch is provided.

If you've got a science background and know about scientific method, please volunteer to judge projects.  Each student is judged at least 3 times, so you can imagine the number of judges we need.  You don't need to be an expert in the areas you're judging, just need to judge the quality and completeness of their work.  The kids start checking in at about 1PM, with judging starting at about 3:00pm.  With luck and work we'll be done by 10:00PM.

On Saturday the award ceremony starts at 10:00AM and goes until about noon, followed by takedown and a little lunch at Khan's.

Please join us, and come to the February Meeting to find out more!

Save the Date – TCRSF 2020 is on…

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.. the same weekend as MarsCon,  February 28-29.   But it IS a leap year, so care to spend the bonus day on the Future?

Lynne and Phill will definitely be working on the event, from setup Friday AM through takedown Saturday afternoon.   Join us if you can.   We can post more specifics as the date gets closer.

 

Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs

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Twin Cities Regional Science Fairs

 will be held at the UofM Field House, 1800 University Ave SE, Minneapolis on

February 26-27, 2016

We've helped out every year since 1994, please help us help the Kids Create the Future.

Setup starts at 9AM on the 26th.  The kids start checking in at about 1PM, with judging starting at about 4:00pm.  With luck and work we'll be done by 10:00PM.

On Saturday the award ceremony starts at 10:00AM and goes until about noon, followed by takedown and a little lunch at Khan's.

Please join us, and come to the February Meeting to find out more!

The Twin Cities Regional Science Fair takes place THIS MONTH!

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The Twin Cities Regional Science Fair takes place on Friday February 27th and Saturday, February 28th.

For the 22nd Year the Nokomis will be helping out with the Twin Cities Regional Science Fair.  We started back at Augsburg College in 1994 with 120 displays and 90 judges. Now, the fair has 350 displays and well over 450 judges.

We could sure use your help.  If you have a scientific or math background, you qualify to judge at the Fair.  If you'd rather not judge or don't have that kind of background, we can use you too.  If you're willing to work through logistics like entering scores or checking kids in, then please consider volunteering as well.  You can sign up at the TCRSF's own web site.

The event takes place at the Field House, University of Minnesota. A rough timetable of events:

Friday
9:00AM Set up (lots of manual labor)
2:00PM Start checking in the students
4:30PM Judging Opens (runs until about 10PM)

Saturday
10:00AM Start of award ceremony
12:00PM Begin takedown
2:30PM Lunch and fun.

Please consider whatever time you might be able to give.  Even a few hours is valuable. Thank you.

Phill Goldman