ExploraVision — National Science Competition Rules & Requirements

Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Rules and Requirements 2025-2026

Download a pdf version of the rules and requirements, click here.

Eligibility

All students must meet the following requirements:

• All students must be United States or Canadian citizens and living within the United States or Canada, U.S. Territories, or a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school abroad, and enrolled full-time in a public, private, parochial, virtual school, or home school.
• Students must be no older than 21 years of age.
• National Science Teaching Association employees, NSTA board members, ExploraVision judges and their respective
  families are not eligible to enter the competition.
• Any student who was a regional or national finalist in ExploraVision can only compete in subsequent years with a new team — i.e., with students who have not previously been selected as ExploraVision regional or national finalists.
• Students enter as a team of 2-4 students with a teacher/coach and optional mentor (no individual entries).
• Students may only submit one project per year. However, each teacher/coach can participate in multiple projects per year.

All coaches must meet the following rules:

• A coach must be at least 21 years of age.
• Coaches may be one of the following: a teacher, coach, counselor, leader in a youth organization, or parent/guardian.
• A coach must know at least one student on the team.
• A coach cannot be a judge in the same competition year.

All projects must meet the following rules:

• Any project that has won at ExploraVision’s regional and/or national level may not be resubmitted in future years.
• Any project previously awarded a prize in another competition may not be submitted.
• AI and the tool ChatGPT may be used to brainstorm and/or research your project ideas. These should be used as a tool, but not as the only resource for your project. Any information generated by these resources must be included in the bibliography with the proper citations from the original resources.

For more information, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Requirements

Categories

Each team must choose the appropriate category, the oldest student on a team determines the category. Each category will be judged separately, based on the abilities of students in those grades. ExploraVision has four categories:

• Primary Level (Grades K – 3)
• Upper Elementary Level (Grades 4 – 6)
• Middle Level (Grades 7 – 9)
• High School Level (Grades 10 – 12)

Project Requirements

Each complete project must consist of:

• A title (50 characters max.)
• An abstract (150 words max.)
• The project description (11 pages max.)
• Bibliography
• Five sample Web pages

The coach submits a team’s project online before the deadline of 7:00 PM ET, February 3, 2026. *

Please follow the guidelines in the project format section listed by grade level category.

Submission materials will not be returned. Please retain a copy for your records. You may photocopy any part of the submission materials.

*If there is a critical online issue, please contact exploravision@nsta.org immediately.

Rights, Patents and Trademarks

Toshiba and the National Science Teaching Association reserve the right to use a student’s, coach’s or mentor’s name, photograph, quote, likeness, descriptive essay or sample Web pages for publicity and promotional purposes. Students who participate in the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision program retain rights to all ideas and products generated through their participation in the program. Neither NSTA nor Toshiba will attempt to patent any student work.

For information on patents and trademarks, contact:
United States Patent and
Trademark Office
Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-14501

www.uspto.gov
or call 800-786-9199 or 703-308-HELP.

Ready to enter, Coaches, Click here to register now!

This rules and requirements page outlines the official guidelines for entering the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision National Science Competition. Teams of 2-4 students work with a teacher or coach to research an existing technology and envision how it could evolve in the future. Entries must follow strict eligibility rules and include a title, 150-word abstract, project description (up to 11 pages), bibliography, and five sample web pages. Projects are submitted online before the annual deadline and must follow formatting and originality guidelines. Understanding these science competition rules helps teams prepare compliant, high-quality projects and improve their chances of success.