Student interest in science fair growing

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This article was published 01/03/2016 (3686 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Do you know how much sugar is in your favourite beverage? Or how clouds produce rain?

Students at Kirkcaldy Heights School sure do.

The elementary school hosted its seventh annual Science and Interest Fair on Monday afternoon, with a record 115 project booths set up in the gymnasium.

“It started out very small. We had a few projects in classrooms and it has progressed to over 100 projects and Grades 1 all the way through 8,” teacher and event organizer Natasha Brancewicz-Lloyd said.

Students, in groups and as individuals, were able to create projects based on their interests — everything from science to sports to music was fair game.

“They often think it has to be some elaborate experiment maybe about a concept they don’t understand, but it can be something very simple,” Brancewicz-Lloyd said, adding that making science approachable for the younger students is an important aspect of the event.

On Monday, Kierra Playford was showing off her experiment on how music affects mood. She employed 14 schoolmates as test subjects and asked them their mood before and after playing them several songs from three different genres.

“When I played pop and country, they were dancing and singing and lip-syncing … and the jazz songs they did really nothing,” Playford said, adding that she was surprised by the results.

“I’m pretty sure everyone’s mood changed and I found that really cool because the majority of people were happy before I tested them and then after, the majority of them were sad.”

In addition to researching their chosen topics and creating booth displays, students get to practise their presentation skills for the judges on fair day.

The science fair usually sees students from Brandon University and Assiniboine Community College judge the competition, but Brancewicz-Lloyd says scheduling made it a struggle to attract volunteers this year.

“We got some alumni teachers, some grandparents, some parents (and) we have our own staff taking time to judge projects,” she said, adding that roughly 20 people came on board to judge.

Finalists in the Kirkcaldy Heights science fair will go on to compete in the Western Manitoba Science Fair at the Keystone Centre on March 15 — winners can then qualify for the Canada Wide Science Fair held in New Brunswick later this spring.

During the fair, which lasted from 1-3 p.m., students weren’t the only ones thinking about the possibility of making it to the larger fairs.

“It makes me a little more nervous and especially with the older kids — they’ve done such a good job,” said Sabrina Dean, who has a science degree and has judged the competition for three years. “I just try to find out what their project’s all about, their hypothesis, making sure that the procedure follows what their question is all about and if they have results to back it up.”

Grade 3 student Adonis Smith says he was cool as a cucumber while explaining his project about tornadoes to the judges.

“I like science fairs. It’s fun. You get to tell people about your science project … and sometimes you can get a gold medal and you get to learn about other people’s projects,” Smith said.

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