Last Thursday, May 14, the Whitesboro Elementary Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) hosted its annual Science Fair at Whitesboro Intermediate School (WIS). The event was optional and free for any Whitesboro third- through fifth-grader who wanted to participate.
Students set up their projects in the school cafeteria that afternoon, and a six-member judging panel assessed each project. Judges consisted of community volunteers with scientific backgrounds, including Michael Parish (firefighter/paramedic), Brittany Taylor (applied behavioral analyst), Misty Nordhoff (registered nurse), Dr. Anna Cate Clayman (audiologist), and Whitesboro High School honors science students Briley Clark and Emily Welles.
Judges reviewed each project and rated them on a variety of factors, including scientific procedure, originality and presentation. Scores were tallied and the students whose projects earned the top three scores in each grade were presented with first-, second- and third-place ribbons.
This year’s projects far exceeded the expectations of event planners and judges. Topics included the effect of removing ingredients from baking recipes, water purification systems, whether Jello can be used as a magnification tool, how different types of water affects soil and how temperature affects electricity in salt water and how many household objects it would power.
The cafeteria was open to the public from 5-6 p.m. so members of the community could come and see (and test out) the projects. Awards were presented at the end of the evening.
“This is such a neat event, because it not only gets the participants excited about science, but other classes also get to come and see their friends’ work during the day,” PTO President Jessica Edwards said. “This year was especially fun because a lot of the projects were hands-on experiments that people could do on-site. Watching all of the kids come together and teach each other something was a really wonderful experience.”
This year’s winners were as follows:
Third Grade
1st place – Delton Phelps – Racing Bristlebots
2nd place – Sadie Crawley – Lava Bolt
3rd place – Eleanor Maxwell – The Science Behind Cupcakes
Fourth Grade
1st place – Jack Wisener – Iron Chef: Breakfast Edition
2nd place – Penelope Harwell – The Clash of Vision
3rd place – Emery Gabbert – Soil
Fifth Grade
1st place – Emma Miles – Fabulous Fizziness: The Quest for the Best
2nd place – Maxwell Schultz – Magnifying Jello
3rd place – Talon Cohorn – Boiling Potential
Additionally, every participant received an award for all of their hard work. Congratulations to all of the students who put in the time and work for these scientific discoveries.
Finally, the PTO extends a special thank-you to fifth-grade science teacher April Ollila for serving as a liaison between PTO and the students; to WIS administration for supporting this event and for helping with the coordination and provision of the event space; and to the entrants and their families for all of the thought and effort put into these educational and fun presentations.