Science fair tips from grade 4 veterans

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2007 (6862 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE science fair judge is walking your way — don’t scream, don’t cry, don’t run away.

Helpful advice from the kids in Kevin Roberts’ class at Isaac Brock School.

School science fair is coming up for the grades 4 to 6 kids in Roberts’s class, and they wanted to do something to help other kids who might not be seasoned veterans of the science fair scene.

“Our class’s strong point is films,” said Justin Penner, 10.

So the kids set out to make a film, and by the time they were done, had produced a trilogy — the science fair project, the backboard, and judging.

Roberts said that all 23 kids took part, producing the film on location at the west end school, primarily using the classroom computers.

The stars of the science fair project were the class pet rats, the stage pro Whiskers and the somewhat more temperamental Misty.

The first film shows students how to come up with a hypothesis, how to pick materials, methods and do observations, and how to reach a conclusion and find an application.

In this case, Whiskers starred as the class tried storing cheese on the counter at 20 Celsius, open in the basement at 10 C, and in the fridge at 4 C, to see how quickly mould developed.

Ideas for the second film started during the film on the cheese project, 10-year-old Brooke Williams said: “Well, we thought, the backboard is important too.”

“One advice is for all of your colours to come together,” said nine-year-old Annika Quirante.

Added nine-year-old Samantha Dawes: “Blue and yellow, they come together good. Before you glue it down, you should lay it down first to make sure it fits.”

“Sometimes you should only pick two colours,” and a minimum of 40 per cent of the backboard should be white, nine-year-old Keegan Kolesar advised: “The judges stay focused on you, and not on your backboard.”

Right, the judges, that’s episode three.

“You don’t scream, you don’t cry, you look normal,” said Justin.

“You have to take deep breaths,” said 11-year-old Sarah Sharp.

The year before, the kids had made a movie about the fur trade, using the class gerbils.

“Rats are a lot calmer,” Brooke reported. “The gerbils will go all crazy, they’ll pee and poop everywhere.”

Bottom line, said 10-year-old Austin Eron-Hirst: “The main point in science fairs is to have a good topic. The best kind of science fair project is something that helps the world.”

Roberts said the three films are available in the school library, and will be posted on-line soon on Isaac Brock School’s website.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca