The Whitehall Elementary school gymnasium was transformed into a science lab last Thursday as the school’s fifth- and sixth-grade students held their annual Science Fair.
This year’s event, which librarian Sara Lestage described as the largest to date, featured more than 50 different projects displayed on tables throughout the gymnasium.
She said more than 85 fifth- and sixth-graders participated in this year’s event. Students chose their own topics and then created displays, many of which included demonstrations and models. Topics ranged from the physiology and behavior of horses to human anatomy and the science behind maple sugaring.
Sixth-grade students Kaylyn Rehm, Natalya Parsels and Shyla Bakerian, created a display on ticks that included a shoe-sized tick made from clay and two actual ticks they found on a cat and then affixed to microscope slides.
Bill Jones made a small spinning wheel that ran completely on solar power, and Logan Blanchard, Michael Kalanqui and Jessica Turner made an exploding volcano.
Lestage said students were given some time in class and during their library period to make the displays, but were mostly on their own.
The students displayed and presented their projects on Thursday afternoon to their fellow students. Later that evening the event was open to the public and awards were presented for the best demonstration and model in each grade.
Winners included: Hannah Potvin, Jocelyn Flynn, Kennedy O’Dell, Daniel Genier, Alyssa Beebe, Megan Gard, Bailey Greenough, Bryce Eddy, Thomas Fish, and Zach Hollister, all in fifth grade.
Sixth grade winners were: Courtney Wiskoski, Kaitlin McNamara, Hanah Bascue, Brandon Bolster, Morgan O’Dell, Jessica Bruce, Kelly Vincent, Chloe Harris, James Rozell, Tressa Clemons, Lucas Laubach, Amanda VanGuilder, and Dawson Procella.