Santa Cruz County Science and Engineering Fair: Teachers

You inspire our future STEAM Leaders!

The Santa Cruz STEAM Expo is March 11, 2023 at the Santa Cruz Fairgrounds.

Welcome to the Santa Cruz County STEAM Expo for the 2022-23 school year. We are looking forward to the projects your students will be submitting this year! In order to have as many students participate as possible, we recommend that you consider holding your own mini Science & Engineering Fair or STEAM Expo for your classroom, school, or district. We are aware that fairs may be time consuming and yet what a wonderful way to:

  • Integrate NGSS Science, Common Core Literacy & Math, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), Project Based Learning, and rich engagement strategies for your students

  • Continue to build passion for learning and problem solving of local issues

  • Focus on independent learning and group projects that students began last year

  • Discover first-hand the importance of STEAM-y investigations that might lead to game changing discoveries and innovations

If you have any questions about how to get started with your own fair, please don’t hesitate to contact us. In preparation for the Santa Cruz County STEAM Expo,  we ask that you forward the best of each category. By holding your own fair, many more students will be able to participate and students will gain experience of judging and defending their project and learning from others. Even if their projects are not successful, there is much to be learned through inquiry via the science and engineering practices and the design process.

Please create a zfairs account or login to an account you’ve already created (if you see your name in the menu at the top right, you are already logged in).

Coming Soon!

The last day for students to complete registration is February 24, 2023. Please encourage students to use a personal email if they have one, or create a gmail if they do not have a personal email- many school domains do not allow outside emails through!  I will be communicating with participants via zfairs, so it is vital their email address works!  Students will place their portfolio: notebook, poster or tri-fold board, and optional video into zfairs when they register.  Students may continue to update their project until March 1st, 2023.  During the week of March 6-10, judges will virtually preview the students’ materials.  

Students will complete a notebook, poster. Detailed information can be found both below and on the Student Page

Wondering how to  get started? The first step is to get  your students CURIOUS. Start with the use of local phenomena and have students generate questions to figure out the how, why, and what is occurring as these are a perfect spark for driving student curiosity about their local community.  Have students consider working together in small groups or partnerships. Take their passions to make the world a better place. Use the SEL competencies of social awareness, responsible decision making, and self awareness to begin investigations. Turn your science classrooms into labs for inquiry and learning.  Use performance tasks and projects as a beginning for student independent inquiry to deepen their understanding. Consider incorporating a Genius Hour or a Passion Project as part of your course explorations.

Not sure where to begin? Consider investigating the Resources document for some ideas. They are a great way to get students started. You might even consider trying out some of the projects with your classes.

School registration is not required. Any student in the county may register directly on this site for the 2023 County Expo. There will be no limits on the number of students per school that may enter the fair. Students must complete registration to officially enter the Santa Cruz STEAM Expo. Student registration closes on February 24th, 2023.