Fox Lane Middle School Students Show Off Interests At Science Showcase

Students at Fox Lane Middle School got a chance to go off the beaten path and cover a science topic of their choice at the annual Science Showcase.

Topics varied greatly from group to group and covered areas ranging from solar ovens to the effectiveness of Sham Wow, according to Donna Reilly, a special education teacher at the middle school who was judging the fair.

"Just about every topic you can imagine," she said.

There were more than 100 projects, with about 150 students involved, Reilly said.

The projects at the June 9 event covered many topics not included in the science curriculum, and some teachers were offering extra credit for participating students, she said.

AnneMarie Berardi, the school principal, noted that the kids did the projects based on their interests.

"Our kids have worked so, so hard, and what's most exciting to me is that they did projects based on what they had questions about," she said.

The fair has its roots going back to the 1970s, when it first started, according to Reilly. However, it stopped for a period and was brought back a few years ago, according to Berardi.

Students participating had a lot to say – and study about their projects.

Jesse Hoogland, a sixth grader, worked on a project about the human immune system and its interaction with different environments. He said that people don't build up immunities because they are too clean at home, as an example. He also said his project showed that hospitals can be dirty, pointing to interaction with people who are sick and exposing certain bacteria to those who are not used to it. Finally, he noted how he had so many sources that he had to get a second binder for them.

Sajay Srivastava, also in sixth grade, worked on a project showing the effectiveness of different wing shapes, and noted how their differences can impact having lift.

"I think it's great. There's some really cool projects out here," he said when asked about the science fair.

His mother, Meeta Srivastava, said this, "I think it's phenomenal. It's just a lot of kids applying a lot of creativity, you know, using their minds for something as simple, and everyday things that they have thought ahead and researched."

She also noted that as part of her job – she works at IBM – she goes to schools and encourage people to learn more about science and math.

Food also made its way into study for some projects. Sixth graders Taylor Rudolph and Maria Deiser were determined to ask an old question: how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Rudolph explained why they did it, and it was because "everyone wants to know."

Sixth grader Christina Washington worked on a project to determine whether leaving out certain ingredients in brownies would have an effect on their taste (the answer was yes). She said that she thought the science fair was fun because she got to see what other people thought of their creations.

Her father, David Washington, also had a good time. He felt it was very exciting and felt that his daughter and her partner put a lot of work into their project.

Winners were announced later in the week, with prizes, according to Reilly, being flash drives. The following is the full list of winners - mostly verbatim - courtesy of Stephanie Pedorbe, a sixth-grade science teacher:

Period: 6: (6th Grade) 

1st place for Best Educational Display:  A TIE between Megan Bartly for "What is Density?" and Anna Sophia Boguraev for "Why is the Earth the Only Planet that can Sustain Human life?"

1st Place for Best Scientific Method: Seanoh Kim for "Does an Incentive help a person to Remember a Given Thing?"

1st Place for Best Scientific Thinking: A Tie between Daniel Delannes-Molka for "Are Ion Engines Real?"

Remember a given Thing?  And Kyle Van Cleave for "Message in a Bottle" 

2nd Place for Best Educational Display: Benjamin Coleman for "How Do You turn Mechanical Energy into Electrical Energy. 

2nd place for Best Scientific Method:  A Tie between Natasha Lehner and Melissa Shaw Patino for "Power Bar vs and Empty Stomach" and Niki Fusco and Jessica Smith for "How is Plant Growth Affected by Acid Rain"  

2nd Place for Best Scientific Thinking: A Tie between Isabelle Shepard for "What Does Your Handwriting Say about You?" and Brian Poor for, "Why does the Brain Correct Language better than Microsoft Word?" 

3rd Place for Best Educational Display: A Tie between Amanda Lawrence for "Why are there so many Breeds of Dogs?" and Noah Peterman for "How Does a Shoebox Camera Work?" and "Why does Static Electricity Bend Water?" by Sabrina LeDone and Julia McEleney 

3rd Place for Best Scientific Method: A Triple Tie! James Karpowich and Noah Durica for Can the Density of a liquid affect the Buoyancy of an object and Domenica Garcia and David Morales for "Do You Know Where Mold Grows Best?" and Joseph Fetter "What Affects Soap Bubbles?" 

3rd place for Best Scientific Thinking: Matthew Witz for Can Plants Hear Us? 
 
 

Period 5: (7th Grade) 

1st Place for Best Educational Display: Jacob Rauch for "What are Burns"

1st Place for Best Scientific Method: Jonathan Leong for "Which Liquid Helps Seeds Germinate Faster?"

1st Place for Best Scientific Thinking:  Myles Grimes and Nick Jordan for "Which Dog Is Smarter?" 

2nd Place for Best Educational Display: A triple tie Eden Romeo for "What is DNA and What are Punnet Squares" and and Marisol Correa for "All Energy Comes from the Sun" and James Luciano and Sofia Pascoa  Johnny DeCola for "What is an Owl Pellet?' 

2nd Place for Best Scientific Method: Tim Raxworthy for "Does Coffee Grain Size Affect the Coffee Strength" 

2nd Place for Best Scientific Thinking: Autumn Monaco for "How is Electricity Made?" 

3rd Place for Best Scientific Method: Maddie Guerra and Lisdy Contreras for "Does Highlighting Help You Learn?" 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Period 4: (8th Grade) 

1st Place for Best Educational Display: A tie between Lillianna Levonick and Juliette Silverman for "What Functions Can Robots Carry Out?" and Erick Romero and Antonio Correa for "How do Solar Ovens Work?"

1st Place for Best Scientific Method: Danilo Flores and Gerson Miranda for "Does Sham-Wow Really Work?"

1st Place for Best Scientific Thinking: Silas Grossberndt for "Maglev: Not just for Trains" 
 

2nd Place for Best Educational Display: Julia Lisi and Phoebe Cavise for "Are Fingerprints Genetic?"  

3rd Place for Best Educational Display: A tie between Alex Pinto for "Emotion, How is Your Body Affected?"

And Zoe Belasco and Jen Campos for  "What are Stalactites?" 

3rd Place for Brendan Cunningham for "Does Sham Wow Really Work?"