VIDEO: Snippets from the Science Fair

Seventh-grade students at the Kevin M. Hurley Middle School looked less like adolescents and more like seasoned entrepreneurs as they stood proudly next to their science fair projects at the annual fair on Thursday, Feb. 3.

As judges walked past to make a grade, they stiffened postures and arranged ties while waiting to answer questions on their experiments. But they were ready - students had been working on the projects that strictly follow the principles of the scientific method since last October.

"There's a lot of work that went into these projects. They had to follow strict, rigid directions," said science fair coordinator Ms. Metcalf. 

Student Anne Silveira was one of the star students - she created an experiment that tested glucose levels in various food groups including fruits and soda. She got the idea after watching family members test blood sugar levels. 

"There are charts online but I wanted a way to see how much glucose was in foods," she said.

Cal Harrington tested out the correlation between fin length and rocket lift. Others tested out the effect of yeast on bread baking, acoustics' relationship to wood, and which painkiller dissolved the fastest to deliver results. 

According to judge Peter Matonis, a chemist with a doctorate, many of the projects were in-depth. But what he was most impressed with was the creativity of the students.

"There's a lot of interesting projects here," he said with a smile.

Check out the video link to the left to watch brief interviews with seventh-grade students from the Kevin M. Hurley Middle School. A handful of students will compete at the state science fair in the months to come. Check back with Patch for coverage.