Procedure

Registration for Grade 5 - 12 Projects is a two step process.

STEP 1: School Registration 

Opens January 13, 2025 to March 5, 2025 

Each school should identify ONE contact teacher.  That teacher should go to the TSF website and register their school using the google form found on the registration page. This form indicates that a school is intending to send students to participate in this year’s TSF.  Teachers will be asked to estimate the number of projects that they will be sending to the fair.  TSF realizes that this total may change but your best estimate will help us plan to provide sufficient space for the projects.

 Please help TSF plan the 2025 fair by completing this form as soon as you can, by February 14th, if at all possible.  Early completion of the school registration form allows TSF to keep contact teachers informed about important fair information by emailing them directly.   It also allows us to make better estimates of materials and personnel needed for a successful fair.

For Home-schooled students: 

• Please complete the School Registration form using a parent/guardian as the teacher contact.

For Independent entries: 

• An independent entry is one in which the student is attending a public or private school, but that school is not doing science fair this year even to the extent of encouraging small groups of students to participate.  This is a student who is working on their own outside of classroom and school expectations. Such students are to be congratulated on their initiative and are encouraged to discuss their plans at an early stage with a teacher and ask this teacher to act as the contact for the purpose of registration.   This teacher would register their school and indicate that they expect to send only one project.  They would receive the student project registration link and would pass it on to the Independent Entry.   This staff member would also be asked to confirm that the school is not sending other projects to TSF 2025 so that we can be sure that project quotas are respected.   If this is not possible, students wishing to participate as an Independent Entry should contact TSF at torontosciencefair@gmail.com. 

A link to a project registration form for students will be sent to each contact teacher a week before February 18, 2025.  The contact teachers will be asked to pass along this link to the students from their school who have been selected to attend TSF 2025.

STEP 2: Project Registration 

Opens February 18, 2025 to March 5th at midnight.

Students receive a link to the Student Project Registration form from their teacher.  Students must complete and submit this form by Wednesday, March 5th at midnight.  If there are two students working on a single project, only one student needs to complete this form.  

All Students will need to complete the consent form as part of the registration process.

Grade 5-6 Science Workshops

A special hands-on workshop has been prepared for Grade 5-6 students and they do not need to choose a workshop. 

Grade 7-12 Science Workshops

All Grade 7-12 students will participate in one science workshop on the day of the fair.  Students will make their choices of workshop on the project registration form.  Please see below for a description of the workshops. 

1. Oil Extraction from an Orange 

Did you know you can extract oil from an orange peel? Use chemistry to make it happen in this special workshop. 

2. Cells and DNA 

An exploration of the building blocks of life viewed under a microscope and extraction of genetic material from common food items. 

3. Microbial Fuel Cells: Generating electricity using the power of mud

Did you know that you could generate electricity from the soil from your backyard? Many different microbes naturally living in the soil beneath your feet are capable of generating electricity. Attend this session for a hands-on experience with microbial fuel cells. 

4. Build your city with Architectural Technology 

Do you like to draw? Do you like to build? In architecture you can do both. Attend this session to find out more about architecture and construction and how it combines the arts and engineering. Look at samples of student projects, career pathways plus demonstrations and hands-on exercises using 2D and 3D drawing software. 

5. Forensic Analysis of Unknown Polymers and Pills; Investigating Polymers in Diapers 

Students will investigate unknown polymers in different wraps using IR spectroscopy and unknown pills by measuring their melting points.  Students will discover polymers in diapers and learn about their structure and properties.  They will also make a similar polymer in a lab.  

6. Introduction to AI for Discovery using Self-driving Labs

Self-driving laboratories (SDLs) incorporate AI and automation into scientific laboratories to speed up the discovery of new materials for applications such as clean energy and cancer drugs.  Discover the essential principles of SDLs using activities to introduce you to hardware/software communication, database integration, microcontroller programming and Bayesian optimization.

7. An Immersive Environmental Science Experience

Join us for an engaging, hands-on journey into the fascinating realm of Environmental Science. Through interactive activities, eye-opening demonstrations, and lively discussions, you’ll learn how biodiversity, ecosystems, and climate change shape our planet—and why it matters to you every single day.

8. Cracking the Code of Carbon: An Introduction to Organic Chemistry

Discover the fascinating world of carbon-based compounds and the complex reactions that power everything from biological processes to industrial applications. Through interactive activities and demonstrations, you’ll gain a solid foundation in the structures, properties, and behaviours of organic molecules.