We are always happy to help get you set up! Please do not hesitate to reach out via newjerseyscienceleague@gmail.com or by calling 908-456-4125 with any questions!
If you are just getting started, we have provided some initial resources to get you ready for the testing season in January. The first thing you need to do is spark interest amongst your student population and begin to advertise when you will be giving your qualifying tests to build your teams!
I highly suggest creating a Science League Google Classroom. Since our season doesn’t begin until January, I give the qualifying test mid-December. Therefore, I push out an advertisement to my science department colleagues that they post in their own Google Classrooms to advertise the qualifying test dates. Feel free to download my advertisement and edit it for your own school. You can view it and make a copy to edit yourself.
My school has 8 teams. Depending on the classes you offer and your time commitment to the Science League, you could have anywhere from 1 to 10 teams. Since I have 8, I split up my qualifying test dates amongst 2 days. I usually have 4 subjects test on one day and 4 on the other. You don’t have to do it this way, but I find it easier to manage since I have many students that want to try and qualify. There are several sample tests posted here. In the past, I would choose a random year and use that as my qualifying test. It is entirely up to you which test you use and how you give it. The only rule is that the test time limit is 50 minutes, and any calculator used cannot contain an operating system.
In the past, the Science League required a minimum of 2 students on a team and a maximum of 4. However, teams could identify 1-2 alternates. I’m eliminating alternates, and increasing the maximum number of students on a team to 6.
Once you have your teams, you should add your students into Zipgrade, and you can see my screencast here how to do that. You should also announce the test dates in your Google Classroom. The test dates for this year are:
Once you have given your tests, you will need to report your results. I have made a screencast here of how to do that if you have the tests digitally or if you gave it on paper, you can see our training page for that information . Once we receive all results, we will do an analysis and report the results. Awards are given at the end of the testing season. Please see the Awards page for more information.
