Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science

Goals

The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, as an Affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is organized with the following objectives:

History

The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) is a statewide organization of junior and senior high school students designed to stimulate and promote interest in science among its members through the development of research projects and investigations. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is divided into 12 PJAS regions. Each PJAS region consists of two or more counties. Every PJAS region has one or more directors and a treasurer who oversee the operation of the region. PJAS also has a State Director, a State Secretary, and State Treasurer as well as committees for Judging, Safety, Technicians, and Awards.

In the early 1930s, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) appointed a national executive committee to coordinate the activities of the various state Junior Academies of Science (JAS). Thus, the JAS movement became an integral part of the AAAS organization with the formation of the National Junior Academy of Science (NJAS). A paper presented at the Pennsylvania Academy of Science (PAS) at its West Chester meeting in 1932 resulted in the appointment of a committee to consider the development of a junior academy in Pennsylvania; the senior PAS became the parent organization of PJAS as a result of this committee. Two years later on March 31, 1934 in Reading, PA, delegates from 14 high school science clubs from all parts of the Commonwealth approved a constitution for the PJAS organization. The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science had become a reality. Dr. Otis W. Caldwell from Columbia University served as an official delegate of the AAAS and welcomed the new group. Pennsylvania was added to the states of Indiana, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, and others that already established junior academies of science. The first PJAS State Director was Dr. Karl F. Oerlein of the California State Teachers College in California, PA. He continued his office until 1941.

PJAS has grown through the efforts and dedication of many adult sponsors, students, and alumni. PJAS conducted the early state meetings at various resorts and convention centers throughout the Commonwealth. The last such convention was at Seven Springs Resort in 1990. Because of the enormous growth in the number of students participating; the State Meeting was moved to Penn State University at University Park, PA, in 1991 where it has occurred since.

In 2010, 551 schools participated in PJAS (compared to 14 schools in 1934); over 6000 students presented their scientific research at the regional level in 2010. The 2016 state meeting hosted 2350 presenters in 231 units. Units are groups of students with projects in similar categories – for example, Unit 14 could be 10th grade Biochemistry, Unit 79 could be 9th and 10th grade Physics, etc. The number of units and the category of each unit varies each year based upon the number of student presenters and their projects. The total number at the State Meeting including student presenters, technicians, sponsors and chaperones was almost 4000 in 2016. Each year a different region hosts the State Meeting.

Projects

PJAS projects fall under four main groups: Science, Mathematics, Computer Science, or Engineering projects. Each of these categories use their own individualized rubric.

Science Projects

Consists of projects in the following categories:

Mathematics Projects

Consists of projects heavily focused on mathematics, or projects proving mathematical theories. Projects that use some math that is not the main focus of the project should be considered for other categories before being labeled as a math project.

Computer Science Projects

Consists of projects that test computer programs, algorithms, computer languages, and hardware.

Engineering Projects

Consists of projects aimed to solve practical problems, focused in electrical, civil, and mechanical engineering. Can also include projects dealing with energy engineering, nanoengineering, and data engineering. Engineering is a new category, first implemented in the 2015 PJAS season with the regional and state meet.

Regional Meets

The program is split up into 12 regions (including regions 1A, 1B, and 1C) spanning from Philadelphia to Lake Erie. Each of these regions hold a private science competition between January and March where students present their research to a panel of judges. These judges score the student's project using PJAS rubrics for the specific category (see Projects) - projects are not judged against each other, but against a set of criteria (see Scoring Rubrics). Each region has its own regional director(s) in charge of coordinating the regions for the regional and state meet, in addition to school sponsor(s) (teacher(s) hosting a school team). It is possible to have regional director(s) also acting as school sponsor(s).

After students present their research, the judges deliberate and determine the student's score based on the appropriate PJAS rubric. Some regions host an awards ceremony or an awards dinner. At these events, students receive a certificate and a bar with the color of their award (See Pin & Bars). Some regions gain enough funding to also support special awards (like Director's awards or ones sponsored by societies or companies) for students who score the highest in their respective category or based on other criterion. For example, Region 1A had awards at their 2016 Regional Meet for students with exceptional analysis sections, exceptional research, or outstanding projects their judges nominate. Special awards at the regional meet aren't required for PJAS and thus, depend on each region. Region 1A, for example, hosted its first year of special awards at its 2016 Regional Meet, while Region 9 has given out special awards throughout the past several years.

State Meet

The PJAS State meet is a multi-day event similar to Regional Meets, always occurring from a Sunday to Tuesday in mid-May. Students who earned a first award at their respective regional meet are invited to travel to the main campus (University Park) of the Pennsylvania State University to present their projects; students who earned a 2nd or 3rd award at their Regional Meet could attend States as a technician, but will not present their projects. Students stay in the PSU dorms and eat in the dining halls while at the State Meet. Students present the same project they presented at the Regional Meet for the chance to win awards and scholarships.

Students who do not earn a 1st at their Regional Meet can attend States as a technician. Technicians serve a crucial role in PJAS by serving as the timers of projects and the judges’ questions. If / when the presenter reaches the 5-minute mark, 8-minute mark, and 10-minute mark, the technician holds up a corresponding card to notify the presenter. For example, when the presentation reaches 5 minutes, the “5 Minutes Remaining” card is held in the air for the presenter to see. PJAS presenters have a time-limit of 10 minutes for their presentation to still earn a first award – going over 10 minutes is an automatic second award for the presenter, hence the crucial role of the technician. Technicians also time the judges when they ask questions following the presentation, with a maximum time of 5 minutes to ask questions.

For meals, students eat in the Findlay Dining Commons. The meals paid are paid for when paying for the State meet. Meals paid for by the State Meet fee are:

Sunday

Students travel to Main Campus with their region (sometimes in individual cars, sometimes on coach buses if traveling for several hours). The exact date varies from year to year but is typically the same weekend of Penn State's graduation or the weekend directly after. Approximately 2,350 students presented their research at the 2015 State Meet.

Upon arriving at Main Campus, regional directors pick up dorm keys and meal cards from the Glass Lounge. Everyone attending the state meet receives a packet with a lanyard, name tag, a campus map, a big PJAS booklet with every presenting student’s name / project title / school, in addition a Penn State magazine, PSU merchandise, and coupon to purchase discounted PSU items at the bookstore. Adults judging receive a second packet detailing their judging assignment. Because there may be a shortage of judges, some adults may get a second judging assignment – one for the AM session (senior high projects) and another for the PM session (junior high projects). Non-judging chaperones receive their chaperone duty in their packet, detailing when and where they are chaperoning; typical chaperone duties include helping to direct students at the awards ceremony or watching over the sports complex for no more than 2 hours. In previous years when the PJAS dance was held on the Monday night after the Special Awards Ceremony, many chaperones would be assigned to the dance.

After picking up and distributing packets and room keys, females head to their dorm building and males head to their different dorm building. Students and chaperones can also arrange to stay off campus. PJAS typically houses participants in the East Halls, but a few regions are housed in the Pollock Halls. PSU meal cards double as their dorm building key and they are each tested upon first entering the building. Students are then able to head to their rooms. Two students are normally housed together in one room, but rarely three students will be assigned to one room.

After Monday’s dinner, each region hosts its own information meeting for students presenting their projects the following day run by their regional director(s) in a large lecture hall. Students attending the State Meet as Technicians attend one big meeting to go over the process, rules, and requirements of their duties. On Sunday night, it is common for student presenters to practice their presentations in their dorm or somewhere else on campus to prepare for Monday’s presentation.

Monday

Monday a full day of presentations and awards. Student presentations are split into two groups: Senior High and Junior High. Students who attend the State Meet as day packages arrive Monday morning to present and attend the awards ceremonies.

Morning - Senior High Presentations

Students find their unit and presenting location by locating themselves in the PJAS booklet – occasionally, senior high students will present with junior high students because of conflicts with AP testing and some junior high students may present with senior high students because of other scheduling conflicts. Senior High students eat breakfast and head to their building to present their project dressed in business casual clothes. It is normal to see many students proudly displaying their PJAS Pin & Bars on their jacket, shirt, or blouse.

Presentations were conducted using overhead projectors and transparency slides to present projects through 2014. From 2013 to 2015, PJAS was phasing out these old technologies for modern LCD projectors; all presentations were presented digitally at the 2015 State Meet. All digital presentations are saved/exported as PDF files - no animations, videos, or sounds will appear during the presentation. Students upload their projects several days before arriving to Penn State with a special file uploader specifically made for PJAS. When students arrive in their unit Monday morning (or afternoon for junior high students), all of the projects to be presented are in the presenting program queued up. When all of the judges and technician(s) arrive, presentations can begin. Penn State students are available in each presenting building to help with any technological problems. Presentations at States are almost exactly the same as the presentations at regionals, but State presentation units can have students and judges from across PA rather than from the same region.

While senior high students are presenting, junior high students have the morning to practice, visit downtown’s shops, visit the Penn State Creamery, play outside if the weather is nice, or other things.

Afternoon

When all of the morning presentations are over, students can head back to their dorms right away to get changed into regular clothes before going to lunch or do what was instructed by their sponsor or regional director. Judges meet in the first floor of Findlay immediately following the unit’s presentations to deliberate scores and come to a conclusion on each project’s award. This is done immediately because the Senior High Awards Ceremony start right after students eat lunch, occurring in Eisenhower Auditorium at 1PM.

Junior high students get changed into their presenting clothes and go to lunch before their presentations begin at 1PM. They follow the same process as senior high presentations.

Senior High Awards Ceremony

The Senior High Awards Ceremony is where each of the morning presenters receives a certificate and pin(s) for their placement. Each unit is called, alternating between odd units and even units. Each student’s name is called one by one with their award announced. An example unit being called sounds like this:

“Unit 17 please line up. Unit 34: John Doe, first award. Bob Doe, second award. Jane Doe, first award and perfect score (applause). James Doe, third award, Janet Doe, honorable mention, and Jack Doe, first award.”

For juniors interviewing for scholarships, they leave immediately after receiving their award. Sophomores and juniors interviewing for trips also leave immediately to interview. When the award ceremony is over, everyone leaves Eisenhower. Senior high students not interviewing have free time that can be spent back in the dorms, they can go off campus and visit stores and shops, eat ice cream from the renowned Penn State Creamery, or their school or region could have other events planned.

Junior High Presentations

While the Senior High Award Ceremony is taking place, the junior high students are presenting their projects in their units just like the senior high students did hours prior, starting at 1:15PM. When these presentations conclude, students return to their dorms to get changed for dinner or do what was instructed by their sponsor or regional director. During this time, senior high students are free to visit downtown’s shops, visit the Penn State Creamery, play outside if the weather is nice, or other things.

Evening

The evening is filled with more award ceremonies and is one of the biggest parts of the PJAS State Meet.

Junior High Award Ceremonies

After dinner is the Junior High Awards Ceremony. Since the 2013 State Meet onward, PJAS has stopped holding one massive Junior High Awards Ceremony in Eisenhower Auditorium due to time constraints with preparing for the Special Awards Ceremony. The large ceremony followed exactly the same process as the Senior High Awards Ceremony. Now, each region’s Junior High Award Ceremony in held different lecture halls across campus at the same time. Depending on the number of middle school students, this awards ceremony could take a few minutes or could be over an hour long; it is less formal and much quicker than the senior high awards. Each middle school student’s name is called along with his/her award just like the senior high awards ceremony. Students receive a corresponding pin for their award and a certificate.

Special Awards Ceremony

The Special Awards Ceremony is held in Eisenhower starting at 8PM. All 1st Award winners are strongly suggested to attend; failure to attend could mean forfeiting any award(s) won. This awards ceremony is the first and only time all PJAS students (senior high and junior high) are together. Dozens of awards are distributed to students across all grades paired with monetary prizes. Students can win awards ranging from $50 to $8,000, with scholarships awarding the most money.

Awards at the Special Awards Ceremony include:

Note: There is no set limit on the number of scholarships awarded – for example, the Eberly College of Science awarded over 50 scholarships at the 2016 State Meet, and these numbers vary each year.

After the Special Award's Ceremony, students are free to take part in various activities, hang out in the dorms, or do things their region/sponsor has planned. PJAS offers movie(s) to view outside and at the 2015 State Meet, the Astronomy Department offered students the ability to look through their telescope. Up until the 2014 State Meet, PJAS hosted a dance in the IM Building, but it has since been stopped.

Tuesday

This is a very quick day. Each region’s schedule varies depending on their departure time, but most regions wake up early, eat breakfast, clear out their rooms and return their keys before loading the busses. Buses cannot leave until key collection is finished and checked by the regional director(s) and Penn State key collection.

Pin & Bars

The PJAS pin and bars are unique to the organization. Students earn bar(s) for each competition (except for honorable mention) that are colored to reflect performance. Students can earn bars at each regional meet and each state meet they present a project and connect them together to form a chain or history of their performance. The bar attached to the pin is the oldest project and the newest project is at the bottom. Returning members of PJAS like to wear their pins and bar while presenting during meets. Depending on the student and his/her projects, it is possible for students to earn more than the 10 bars that could be earned if the student participated for all five years. Students earning a First Award Perfect Score earn two pins - one for their first award and a second for their perfect score. Therefore, it is theoretically possible for a student who competes in all 12 competitions to earn a maximum of 24 bars if the student earns a perfect score at every meet for all six years.

In the example pin and bar on the right, it can be seen that the student's first project earned a 1st Award at his Regional Meet and a 2nd Award at the State Meet. In his second year, he earned a 1st at Regionals and 1st Award Perfect Score at States. Then, a 1st award at both the Regional and State Meets in his third year, followed by a 1st Award Perfect Score at his fourth Regional Meet and a 1st Award at the State Meet. In his fifth and final year as a presenter, he earned 1st Award Perfect Scores at both the Regional and State Meets for that particular project.

Scoring Rubric

PJAS participants and their projects are not judged against each other like other fairs. Instead, each project is independently judged based on a rubric. Each rubric for the four project types consists of five categories with a maximum score of 5.00 points in each category. Each judge's numbers influence the final score because it is their combined average that make up the point value. To proceed to the state meet, a participant must receive an average score of 4.00 or greater (or a perfect 5.00) to earn a 1st Award at the Regional Meet. Participants who receive 2nd awards (an average score between 3.00 and 3.99) may be eligible to go on the state trip as a technician possibly. Participants that go over 10 minutes in presentation length automatically earn a second award based on the criteria in each rubric and thus are ineligible to compete at the state meet.

For each category, on each rubric, 1-5 points may be awarded. The following table describes each point value.

Scoring rubrics vary by category type but share two of the same sections between all rubric types (italicized). These are the category section on each rubric.

Science

Math

Computer Science

Engineering