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By Rama K. Ramaswamy
Last weekend, Fiske Elementary School’s PTO held its 2nd annual science fair in the school’s gym, which was lined with tables covered in posters and experiments designed by K-5 students.
Some experiments lit up, others were frothy, a few told stories with their shiny color photos, and some plugged into lemons, which were in turn plugged into a voltage meter. As it turns out, one lemon produced about 7/10 of a volt of electricity but with two lemons, Fiske 3rd grade scientists Celia de Mena and Addison Flagg demonstrated, they could power a simple digital watch, which uses about 1.5 volts.
4th grader Thatcher Bonniwell’s “Christmas Light Circuits”
The current Fiske PTO Co-Presidents are Manisha Varma and Ceida Chan. Co-Chairs for the Science Fair were Anshul Chadda, Hillary Madge and Manisha Varma.
“Because children are naturally very curious and love to experiment, they came well-prepared and excited to showcase their creations,” said Manisha Varma. “The Fiske Science Fair is a great event for kids to explore, learn something new, and have fun through developing models, creating experiments and gaining exposure to the scientific method. Children had projects from magic Skittles paintings, Alka-Seltzer rockets using the Patriots as a theme and soda-powered balloons, homemade Ooblecks, optical illusions and much more …
Kindergarten student Caroline Smith’s project: “What Is Friction?”
Teachers from second grade and fourth grade, parents, and our principal, Rachel McGregor, served as judges. These judges walked from experiment to experiment asking inquisitive questions such as, ‘How did you choose your project? Did you have fun doing your project?’ and ‘What did you learn?’”
Leah Hutnick, Co-Chair for Upham School’s science fair, called “Upham Invention Convention,” provided Fiske with lab coats for all the participating students and judges.
One Fiske parent commented on the process of getting an experiment going, “this Science fair made me and my child learn about the science behind his project. It was great.”
“This fair was amazing,” another parent said. “My child learned a lot just going through the whole process of building a project.”
3rd graders Weston Helmer, Spencer Helmer and Christian Smith project: “How Does A Tornado Form?”
According to Atul Varma, Fiske parent and science fair judge, “some kids were so involved and passionate about their project, they had more questions for me than I had for them.”
Thatcher Bonniwell, a 4th grade student, rigged up his experiment called “Christmas Light Circuits,” wherein he connected various wires to batteries on one end and Christmas light bulbs on the other and lit up his project. His mother, Jen, said “this is Thatcher’s second year at the science fair. His project is much more well thought-out and well done this time around. He had a lot of fun with it and so did we.”
According to Hillary Madge, a few additional examples of projects were:
• Do matchbox cars travel different distances if they are different weights?
• A demonstration of water surface tension by holding a glass of water, with a piece of paper over its top, upside-down without spilling the water.
• Does an over-inflated or under-inflated soccer ball travel further?
• A model of the solar system
• A demonstration of how dish soap decreases surface tension and can power the movement of a toy boat.
• Generating carbon dioxide to inflate balloons using vinegar and baking soda.
• Demonstrating osmosis by observing what happens to gummy bears soaked in tap water and salt water.
• Presenting a model of the human brain - and facts about the brain.
• Providing optical illusions and why the brain interprets some pictures and colors as it does.
Furthermore, Madge added, “the Fiske science fair provided an opportunity for kids to explore these and other concepts. They shared their findings with the rest of the school and wowed their friends, schoolmates, and me! A great and educational event that embraces enthusiasm for learning and exploring - highly recommend other schools to encourage their students to join in the fun.”
When asked about the judging results, Madge said: “we chose the American way - no winners and everyone got a certificate.”
