For the past 15 years, Oklahoma students have competed for Best in Show honors at the annual Oklahoma Mesonet/ARM Science Fair. This year, the science fair will be exceptionally exciting as it has been named an official centennial event. Oklahoma is celebrating 100 years of statehood, and students will do their best to showcase the state’s enthusiasm for weather and climate science.

The science fair will be held on February 24, 2007, on the University of Oklahoma campus in the newly constructed National Weather Center. Students will compete in several weather categories, and members of the Norman Weather organizations will serve as judges. Students will have an opportunity to interact with professional meteorologists.

Students from schools across the state of Oklahoma are invited to participate in the science fair. Project submissions are limited to those using weather data provided by the Oklahoma Mesonet, ARM, Storm Prediction Center, or National Weather Service. Projects are scored on a scale of 100 points based on a standard criteria form used by the judges. The “student interview” is an extremely important component of the competition. It gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to articulate the development of the project and express how they arrived at their conclusions. Projects earning scores of 80-100 receive Superior ribbons; 60-70 receive Excellent ribbons; and 40-59 receive Honorable Mention ribbons.

Science fair participants will be given a tour of the new National Weather Center – a great opportunity to see research and operational meteorologists in action. The awards ceremony will be held in the same room where University of Oklahoma undergraduate students study to become the next generation of meteorologists.

Stay tuned for news about ribbon winners and details about this exciting event!