Middle School Science and Technology Scholarship

The College of Human Sciences offers two (2) $2500 Expanding Human Potential Scholarships for middle school students whose exhibits at the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa are judged as demonstrating the best applications of Human Sciences related content.

Eligibility

• Students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 who exhibit at the fair are eligible for this scholarship.
• Exhibits entered in any of the physical or biological sciences categories are eligible, provided that they demonstrate a clear connection to the Human Sciences.

Human sciences

Human sciences is a broad field of study focused on improving people’s lives, including:

• The ways people learn or improve the learning of others
• Producing and selecting what, when, and how people eat - and the subsequent effects on health and well-being
• The role of physical activity in promoting health and wellness
• How individuals grow and develop
• How families and communities support each other physically, mentally, and emotionally
• How textiles and clothing are designed, tested, produced, or merchandised
• How people manage money and housing and leisure
• How people manage and improve schools and learning communities for people of all ages

Qualifying exhibits

Qualifying exhibits should somehow help people thrive mentally, socially, or physically. Such exhibits might demonstrate or explore:

• The manner in which a learning method affects brain wave patterns
• Technology that helps a person with disabilities be more self-sufficient
• A process for making food more nutritious
• A test for measuring the durability of textiles
• Behavioral aspects of consumer preferences
• Changes in skeletal tissue that occur between birth and adulthood

For additional ideas, see lists of undergraduate majors and graduate programs in the College of Human Sciences.

Selection criteria

For the scholarship, exhibits are judged on creativity of the idea/application, accuracy and completeness of information, clarity of purpose and information, and effectiveness or dramatic impact of the project.

Judging

For this scholarship, exhibits are judged at the science fair event by faculty and graduate students selected by the College of Human Sciences. Winners are announced at the award ceremony associated with the event.

Scholarship disbursement

These tuition scholarships are disbursed to students in two equal payments ($1250 each semester) in the first two semesters that they are enrolled in a program of study administered by the ISU College of Human Sciences. In the event that a winner does not enroll in an ISU CHS program, the monies are not disbursed.