The California State Science Fair is a science fair held annually at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
The fair is fed by 28 regional science fairs, each of which is allocated a number of projects based on prior history of producing winning entries. The allocation in 2009 was 908 projects, an average of 24.7 projects per million population.("2009 California State Science Fair Projects by Fair". 2009-05-25. http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/Current/ProjectsByFair.ssi. Retrieved 2009-05-25.)
Awards are given in several categories at both junior (grades 6–8) and senior (grades 8–12) levels. The awards are posted shortly after the fair ends each spring: Current Category awards. At the 2009 fair the major awards include the Patricia Beckman Project of the Year Award—David Zarrin of Redwood Middle School, Saratoga won the Junior Division ($5,000 award) and Anna K. Simpson of Patrick Henry Senior High School, San Diego won the Senior Division ($10,000).("CALIFORNIA STATE SCIENCE FAIR Major Fair Awards – 2010". http://www.usc.edu/CSSF/Current/Awards/. Retrieved 2009-08-08.) There are also many special awards sponsored by various organizations, some with cash prizes: Special and Recognition Awards.
Project of the Year awards:
2009: Junior- David Zarrin of Redwood Middle School Senior- Anna K. Simpson of Henry (Patrick) Senior High Schoo
2010: Junior- Natalie Ng of Challenger School Senior- Kavya Jayram of Sravani Academy
2011: Junior- Steven Wang of Harker School Senior- Jessica A. Richeri of Centennial High School