SALEM- Students at St. Paul School showed off their research acumen at the fifth- and sixth-grade science fair Tuesday morning.
Featuring 28 projects that the students have been preparing since the middle of March, the science fair required the participants to select a topic, research it and present what they found. The projects included a display that explained the procedures and materials the students used, an abstract overview of the project, a clearly defined hypothesis and a conclusion that showed the experiment supported the hypothesis.
"They all did an amazing job," said coordinator Kristi Reidy, the fifth- and sixth-grade science and math teacher at the school. "I think they really enjoyed themselves and seeing the variety of topics (that their classmates chose)."
Article Photos
Fifth- and sixth-grade students participated in the St. Paul School Science Fair Tuesday morning, featuring 28 projects. Michael Ginocchi, fifth grade, explains his project about hard water to judge John Ettinger as classmate Makenzie Jeric watches. (Salem News photo by Kevin Howell)
Although the event is typically held every other year, this year marked the first fair in probably fours years, Reidy said. Every fifth- and sixth-grade student completed a project for a participation grade, but due to an absence, only 27 were able to present.
Judging was held in the morning, with the Rev. Bob Edwards, seminary intern John Ettinger and Jim Shivers serving as judges. The participants then shared their projects with the rest of the students in the afternoon.
Projects included volcanic eruption, rocket chemistry, lemon batteries, buoyancy, magnetic force, radio waves, pulleys and a pychrometer. Others determined if smiling is contagious, if video games are fun or frustrating, which juice has the most vitamins and how to cool your soda. There was also a hovercraft, a roller coaster and studies into spoiling food, tennis ball bounce rabies and cereals.
"They certainly surpassed what I was expecting, and that is always a good thing," Reidy said.
Kevin Howell can be reached at khowell@salemnews.net
