Young Scientists Participate in Annual Science Fair

by Jonathan Weaver

More than 100 West Hills Intermediate students participated in last week’s annual science fair before a filled auditorium.

The science fair was open to all students fourth through sixth grade, and was purely optional. Students had more than a month to work on their projects.

Social Studies Teacher Courtney Cogley, five other teachers, School Librarian Angie Wolfe and Principal Chuck Kreinbucher coordinated the annual event.

Cogley recognized some of her fifth-graders in the science fair. She continues to help out at the fair even though she only taught science for one year.

“We have 75 projects – some of the kids worked in partners or groups of three,” “It was a good turnout this year – they’re very interesting projects. You could do anything, either an experiment or a demonstration.”

Teacher Jill Brown teaches two fourth-grade science classes and recognized about two dozen of her students.

“Basically, I told them I had books with ideas, but I told them to take advantage of the Internet – because there’s a lot of science fair projects on the Internet,” Brown said. “But, most of them came up with their ideas on their own. And we always provide materials for them if they want them, but they were all excited about doing them from home and showing their activities here at the school.”

Fifth-grader Nedilynn “Lynn” Bowser got to eat one of her favorite snacks for her science fair project – popcorn.

Bowser was trying to determine which of four different brands had the least number of kernels after a normal microwave popping.

“Act II had 28 (kernals remaining), Pop Secret had nine, Jolly Time had 36 and Orville had 61 – everybody finds that surprising,” Bowser said.

Bowser also offered to allow spectators to taste test the different brands
Fourth-graders Xander Daniel and Jacob Panchik poured salt, water, vegetable oil and different colors of food coloring to show how a lava lamp worked through a project they entitled “Lava in a Tube.”

“It was interesting, we thought it was scientific and the process was fun while doing it,” Panchik said.

A few tables away, fellow-fourth graders Jordan Edwards and MacKenna Lewis had a similar experiment, but used alka seltzer to keep the reactions going.

The four students experimented with purple, blue, red and yellow food coloring.

Fourth-grader Ethan Totin already knows a little about physics after his “vortex cannon.”

Utilizing a normal cardboard box with a hole in it, Ethan was able to knock down nearly a dozen stacked plastic cups with one boom.

“The pressure shoots the fog out and shoots into the cups,” Ethan said.

Ethan’s father, Ed, said the science experiment proved to be fun and interactive with many other young scientists Thursday evening. He said Ethan experimented ‘shooting’ plastic and Styrofoam cups, along with houses made out of cards with everything from a plastic container to a paint bucket – which makes a sound like a BB gun – before the actual event.

“We kept building on the sizes, because the bigger the hole and the larger the object, the more air it’s going to absorb,” Ed said.

Principal Kreinbucher – who admitted to being more interested in English in school rather than science – said he was impressed with all the student experiments Thursday.

“This is the first time I’ve ever done a science fair as an elementary principal – I kind-of knew what was going to be here, but I’m proud of (the students). They did a nice job,” Kreinbucher said.

Each student participant will receive a certificate at the end of school awards assembly, as well as some photos being used in the student yearbook.