A New Middle School Science Fair

From Vaden Spurlock: Middle School Science Teacher

This year marks the first stride in creating a new era in the way The New School approaches the traditional science fair. Gone are the days of subjecting middle school students and parents to the painful annual ritual of the last minute science project. The late night trip to the store to buy supplies for the board are no more. Clambering together an experiment at the last minute and working feverishly to collect the results is a thing of the past. This time around, students chose to compete as members of the newly formed Science Club! Even more amazingly, these students chose to stay afterschool to engage science! This dynamic shift has led to the submission of some well-rounded science and engineering experiments.

Beginning in September, students in the Science Club chose topics and began working on their respective projects. The projects ranged from behavioral, plant, and medical sciences to engineering materials and practices. Today marked the culmination of their collective efforts. The New School's local Science and Engineering Fair was the first opportunity for outsiders to get to observe the ongoing work of the Science Club. Special guest judges from the University of Arkansas and the local science community spent time interviewing students and discussing the projects. Based on these observations, our club members were graded on their work and have now qualified for the Northwest Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Detailed descriptions of these projects can be found below.

In the Junior Division (7th Grade), our club members were awarded the following placements at The New School's fair:

1. Connor F. - The Effects of Elevated Levels of Carbon Dioxide on Potato Plants: Connor's project approached the issue of rising carbon dioxide levels and how the would effect the growth of potato plants.  After seeing the results, I may invest in potatoes over the course of the next few years.
2. Andrew C. - Topple and Fall: In this project, Andrew tested the durability of houses of differing floor heights under simulated earthquake conditions.  Andrew might have some interesting advice to give you if you're in the market to buy or build a new house.
3. Hartley P. - Plant Dance: Hartley's project was a re-make of an old experiment. She tested the effect of music from Lady GaGa on the growth rate of plants. To her dismay, she found that plants subjected to Lady GaGa didn't grow as well as those who weren't.

In the Middle Division (6th Grade), the club members were awarded the following places:

1. Nathan F. & Andrew Y. - Stressed Out: Nathan and Andrew worked diligently to observe the effects of stress. In this experiment, the guys observed the building patterns of ants in a farm that were subjected to the stress of being vibrated.
2. Robbie P. - Who Screams for Ice Cream! Robbie chose an experiment near and dear to his heart...an experiment where he let students eat ice cream. He decided to see if he could cause a cold induced headache (brain freeze) more often in boys or girls. With ice cream and students involved, he was very successful in causing brain freeze.
3. Lidia G. - What's the Fastest Way to Cool a Soda? Lidia took a practical approach to try to discover the best way to cool down one's favorite canned beverage. Her findings confirmed what most of us have known, the old cooler with ice water cools cans the fastest. 

The students mentioned above deserve a lot of credit for the work they've done over the course of this school year. If you see any of them on campus, please congratulate them for a job very well done. Chances are, you'll find them in the science lab!