SRCS Middle School Science Fair

By: Rachelle Garrow-Hayes

What do you get when you put 171excited and nervous students (140 sixth graders and 31 seventh graders) with tri-fold display boards into a cafeteria and add some judges? You get Salmon River's best science experiments for the Middle School Science Fair.

Over the past six weeks, Salmon River's sixth grade class and 31 seventh graders have been working hard preparing for the second annual Science Fair. Their hard work paid off as they impressed the judges who visited Salmon River and represented careers in science, engineering, technology, education, law and environment. Projects named Candy Confusion, Shoot It, Natural Terror Storms, Electrolytes, The Right Shot, Lightning Speed, Get Kicked, Heated Up and other intriguing titles were presented to the judges who ultimately chose the winners.

47 sixth and 15 seventh grade projects were judged on the afternoon of Thursday, February 26. Each team had three interviews with three different judges before the judges made their decisions. Parents, families and friends had the opportunity later in the afternoon to view the projects and hear the results. The goal of the science fair is to inspire students to continue their studies in science and math through high school in order to have college and career choices that enable them to become the next generation of engineers, scientists and innovators. Students are encouraged to find and explore their passion through project based learning and science fair competition. The students reap the benefits of project-based learning, collaboration with teachers, mentors and professional scientists and engineers by learning 21st-century skills of critical thinking, collaboration and creativity as well as confidence to lead and be productive team members to achieve their goals. Students get the opportunity to shine in the spotlight of the local and regional science fairs.

"In the Middle School we feel the instructional method of inquiry (posing questions and solving them) and project based learning (hands on approach)is the best way of learning" explained Danielle Chapman, SR Middle School Instructional Support Teacher. "This is usually their first time solving problems in a group or team. The research paper is the longest paper they have had to write. Students need to use the American Psychological Association (APA) format and cite their work. They learn about ethical issues such as plagiarism and falsifying data. They are also taught that communicating and having enthusiasm about solving problems that will help society, culture or the environment will make a great presentation. We are teaching real world experiences by having students work in teams, problem solving and communicating ideas".

"We learned to work as a team. We worked hard and didn't always agree but we got through it and got the job done" said Liberty Wood, one of the members of the Heated Up team. The question they wanted to solve was: Does the size of a hair straightener affect the time it takes to straighten hair? Their conclusion was yes it does matter. The larger the barrel and the temperature of 310 degrees did the best and quickest job straightening hair. Ms. Wood's partners were Hattie Laffin-Almond and Larissa Brown.

Gavin Cook-Avery, Talynn Wiley and Celeste Huminston collaborated on Get Kicked. All three are soccer players and wanted to know what part of the foot would have the most accurate shot for a penalty kick. They didn't know at first that they all liked soccer. "We hardly knew each other at first" commented Gavin. "We talked, got to know each other, cooperated and now we are friends. The team found out that kicking with the outside of the foot was the most accurate." The project was a lot of fun but hard work" stated Talynn.

The sixth grade winners of the 2015 Middle School Science Fair are in sixth place PJ Ghostlaw, Connor Lewis, Stone Chubb and Zachary Durant with "What is the Most Accurate Hockey Flex?" In fith place was Nayla Jacobs, Naliyah Barnes and Karahkwenhawe White with the question "What is the Most Effective Way to Teach Children to Bead?"Fourth place went to Brycelan Sunday, Julia Oakes and Karonhiahawe Lazore for "What Energy Drink Causes the Most Damage to the Human Body: Monster, Red Bull or Kick Start?" Third place was reserved for Flint Swamp, John Miller and Treyton Sunday with "Does the Temperature of a Puck Affect the Distance that it Travels?" Second Place goes to a trio of girls, Meadow Tarbell, Myranda Collette and Kayla Cunningham and they wanted to know "What Method is Best for Students to Remember Their Multiples of 7,8,9 and 12?"First place honors where taken by Iawentanawen Sawatis, Owen Gray and Damien Thompson for their research into "What is the Most Effective Way to Remove Oil from a Pool of water?"

The second place team for the seventh graders was Cobie Cree, Kobie Stehlin and Treyton Mitchell with "What shot is the Most Accurate in Lacrosse?" The Number one question was posed and solved by Rylie Gray, Kora McDonald and Libbie Tarbell with "Are Childproof Medicine Bottles really Childproof?" Not only did they discover that the answer was no but developed a medicine bottle cover that was more effective in keeping children from opening. They developed this cap with the help of Clarkson University student mentors.

The winners of the science fair will be traveling to Syracuse, New York, on March 14 and 15 to compete in the Regional Science Fair. While in Syracuse the students will be taking part in activities such as NYS Overly Complicated Machine and Rube Goldberg Contests, Ying Scholar Finals, STEM Day on the Hill with Glass Blowing, Protein Analysis, SU Chemistry titrations, electrical engineering lab, gaming and hacking and Dr. Gray Scott with The Science Show. On Sunday the students will be involved in the completion part of things. This trip is made possible by an Alcoa grant that allows 25 students to go to Regionals.

A special 'thank you' goes out to all the judges who volunteered their time to help make this Science Fair a successful and fun learning experience for the students. Judges came from Alcoa, Siemens Energy, SUNY Potsdam, St. Lawrence University, SRCS administration, teachers, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES, and Cornell Cooperative Extension.