(ABOVE) Students watch as freshman Addison Forsyth demonstrates the vortex ring project that she worked on with Princeton Rush.
A Friday (Feb 23rd) afternoon science fair in the gymnasium at Schlarman Academy’s North Campus showed a wide variety of thinking, from 7th graders through high school seniors. They were competing in various categories at various age levels. Eighth grader Jocelyn Wear decided on a project about clouds, something she’s always enjoyed.
AUDIO: So whenever my teacher mentioned a science project, I immediately thought about clouds; because they’re just so special to me.
(1st Picture) Eighth grader Jocelyn Wear poses by her clouds science project. (3rd Picture) Seventh grader Waylon Drake explains his test on which toothpaste cleans the best.
Among the 7th graders was Waylon Drake, who worked hard to find out which of a variety of toothpastes cleaned teeth the best.
AUDIO: I soaked eggs in coffee, and then I brushed them for two minutes with each different kind of toothpaste.
(For the record, the winner has the words “gum detoxify” in its name.)
At the high school level, freshmen Addison Forsyth and Princeton Rush were using a plastic garbage can to fire vortex rings to see how far they can travel and knock something over. Addison explained to us what a vortex ring is and where it might come from.
AUDIO: Just air getting stuck on the side with friction, and getting pushed out faster in the middle. Like when a dolphin shoots out of its thing on its back; or a volcano erputing.
(1st Picture) Freshmen Princeton Rush and Addison Forsyth take a break from demonstrating their vortex ring project. (2nd Picture) Juniors Colton Kotcher and Peyton Kuemmerle pose by their project that looked into video game playing improving a person’s reaction time.
High school juniors Payton Kuemmerle and Colton Kotcher decided to find out if playing a lot of video games can improve one’s reaction time. As Colton explains; the answer seems to be “yes,” according to the test they used.
AUDIO: The test that we gave them was online. It’s a tap test. It’s where you wait on a certain color to show, and then you tap the phone, and it’ll tell you your speed. We had them do it three times.
(1st Picture) Students file through the Schlarman Academy North Gymnasium to view various projects. (2nd Picture) Science teachers Rena McMahon and Christopher Andrew take a break from overseeing the fair.
Rena McMahon teaches the life sciences, such as Botany and Anatomy.
AUDIO: We have a bigger turnout here this year than we did last year; so each year it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.
Teacher Christopher Andrew says more projects this year was exactly the idea.
AUDIO: This year we made it a requirement for all of our Science classes. So if a student is in a Science class, they’re here at the Science Fair; with exception of our AP (Advanced Placement) students.
Andrew is a science and math teacher, teaching Physics and Chemistry on the Science side.
