Walt Clark Middle School will host Thompson School District’s Science Fair on Saturday, bringing together students ranging from kindergarten to ninth grade to present their research, inventions and discoveries to a panel of judges and compete for trophies and medals.
The process leading up to this weekend’s event began in September, when students began to submit proposals, and most have been working on their projects since October, said Enrichment Coordinator Michelle Stout.
The science fair, which includes projects related to earth sciences, life sciences and health sciences, with projects as varied as “putting paper towels to the test” and “what fruit juice has the most vitamin C,” is important for learning, Stout said.
“It’s vast,” she said of the educational importance of the students’ experiments. “It starts with that spark of curiosity. What do you want to learn about. They might say, ‘I really want to understand why this works this way, or will it even work? I think it will, will it?’”
The students explore their topics using the scientific method, making observations, asking questions, developing hypotheses, performing experiments and verifying results. Additionally, students learn how to effectively communicate their findings to judges and interested onlookers, including their own parents.
Talking to some of these kids is so humbling,” Stout said. “I have no idea what they’re talking about half of the time, they’re smart as can be.”
Approximately 100 students will be judged in two categories.
The first will include younger students between kindergarten and third grade. That event will be judged between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., and students will present themselves, without help from parents or guardians. Then a period of public viewing will take place between 9:30 and 9:50 a.m., followed by the announcement of winners.
Then the next round of students, between fourth and ninth graders, will set up their projects and submit for judging between 10:45 and 11:45 a.m. followed by a similar public viewing until around 12:05 p.m.
Younger students will need help with their projects, Stout said, but credit will be given to older students who clearly did the work themselves, with minimal help from parents or other adults.
“You can tell when a student did most of the work themselves,” Stout said.
