Science Fair Takes Over!

This year’s Science Fair took over the bigger spaces in the Commons. The Briggs Center for Civic Engagement held the projects of the 5th and 6th graders and the Workshop, Project Space and Greenhouse held the science projects and STEM creations of the 3rd and 4th graders.

Wandering from the bottom floor to the top, it’s quite clear how the independence and understanding ramps up at each grade level when you see their presentations. All students are directed to identify and frame their “testable question” to answer through their individual research. In Third Grade, the students all form their testable question within the domain of their study of electricity. If you ever wondered what happens to a battery’s voltage after it soaks in chocolate milk, or whether a lemon can carry a current to power a light bulb, you would know after Thursday’s Science Fair. In late fall, the fourth grade students researched scientists, innovators or inventors of their choice and wrote biographies on their selected famous people. From there, they needed to focus their experiment for Science Fair within the same domain as their featured scientists. Each student was independently responsible for following the steps of the Scientific Method to formulate a hypothesis, research his/her question, gather data, analyze them, then draw conclusions. In the Middle School, the sky is the limit for what their experimental pursuits may be, and they can opt to work with a partner or solo.

The 3rd and 4th grade students set up on Tuesday, shared their projects with the other Lower School students who visited at intervals throughout Wednesday and Thursday, and then presented to the parents on Thursday evening. The Lower School students also visited the experiments of the Middle School students before the actual event on Thursday evening. A great time was had by all! What a great celebration in a most appropriate space!

SETTING UP IN THE SPACE: