Organized by Mrs. Willits and Mrs. Burke, the first ever school wide virtual fair highlighted some key concepts and projects students studied throughout the 2016-2017 school year. Most science fairs take place in crowded gyms or classrooms, but in a virtual school, these teachers were faced with the challenge of bringing everyone together in a unique way - in a virtual classroom!
Students in younger grades tested scientific methods and basic concepts such as figuring out different solutions could clean pennies and experimenting with making crystals at home. Older students explored more in depth topics such as how music impacts your mood and researching acid reflux.
The following projects took first place within their respective grades:
Maryam Zaheer placed first out of all Kindergarten through 2nd grade students. Maryam found her inspiration for floating and sinking from SciShow Kids and tested what everyday objects found around her house sank or floated in water! Simple objects like toy rings, marbles, magnets and birds all produced varying results.
Taking first place in Grades 3-4, Matthew Brown took a deeper look at how dense objects float in salt water – like the Dead Sea. Because of the amount of salt in the Dead Sea, objects that would normally sink in regular tap water will indeed float in water that has been saturated in salt. Matthew used eggs and salt water to conduct his experiment with great success.
Blaise Krall also focused on a salt water based experiment, but wanted to see if he could emit an electric current from a battery to a light bulb using the water. He discovered that the salt water could act as an electrolyte and carried the electric current from a battery to a small bulb, but only if the water was continually stirred. He also managed to ionize the water, turning it yellow after his experiment concluded, which he did not predict in his hypothesis.
Seventh and eighth grade winner, Huda Syed took an in depth look at the way our bodies process pain, using a thermal grill, or sensory illusion. She hypothesized that by intermixing cold and hot sensations; the body would be confused and only allow her test subjects to feel one. Because nerves are stimulated with both sensations at once, only one set of signals (in this case, cold) can reach the brain first, causing a delayed reaction to the pain.
One of the most adventurous projects came from Robert Putnick, the 9-10th grade winner, who set a number of objects, including his hand, on fire! All in the name of science, Robert was actually testing a butane bubble and soapy water mix that he hypothesized would create a self-extinguishing flame, causing no damage to a variety of normally flammable substances. After successfully testing seven substances, Robert was confidently able to hold the flame in his hand and not get burnt.
*CAUTION: This experiment was performed under close parental supervision.
Caitlin Wert, the 11 -12th grade winner, recreated an experiment that changed the history of science, illustrating how light waves can reflect and refract in different situations. Using the famous Young double-slit experiment as her inspiration, Caitlin created her own laser refractor using smoke on a thin pane of glass. With a laser beam, the slits she created diffracted the light and created cylindrical waves, generating patterns on a paper placed across the room. Caitlin discovered that something as simple as shaking the laser was enough to create new lengths and patterns.
Congrats to all our winners! Click here to view all of the 2017 Science Fair Projects.
