Baldwin Students Proudly Display Science Fair Projects

The gym was packed Thursday night with students, parents, teachers and, most importantly, science projects in celebration of the annual .

Hundreds of students attended the PTA-sponsored fair, tugging on their parents’ arms or telling their friends about their projects. According to Christy DeGrendel, chairperson for the science fair and member of the PTA, 245 students in kindergarten through fifth grade participated in the science fair this year.

Rows of tables were set up with display boards; many were repeat projects while others were unique experiments that teachers hadn’t seen in the past. Volcanoes, crystals and the solar system were some of the more popular science fair topics this year.

“Everyone knows that parents end up helping with the projects, and I think the fact that it forces us to work on it with our kids is good,” said Diane Fessler. “It is kind of fun for us to have that bonding time.”

Fessler has two daughters who attend Baldwin and participated in the science fair. One daughter is in second grade, and the other is a fourth-grade student. She said it is a bit challenging the younger they are, but it’s good to break the ice and get them thinking scientifically. According to Fessler, at their house, they have a process to crafting projects and sketch everything out ahead of time.

“The biggest thing is we don’t want to rush the project, and we want it to be flexible because experiments don’t always go as you plan,” she said.

Many parents, like Fessler, agreed that the science fair was fun for all ages, and that although the assignment is extra curricular, it is good experience.

“I think it’s a great opportunity; they really start thinking like scientists early on,” said Tammi James, whose fifth grader participate this year.

Claire Fessler, Diane’s 10-year-old fourth grader, found that her experiment didn’t turn out as she had hypothesized. In honor of Spongebob Squarepants, Claire set out to find out which type of sponge absorbed the most water: a manmade sponge or a natural sea wool sponge. It only took a few days to run the trials, according to Claire.

“I found out that the natural one absorbs more water because it has bigger pores,” Claire said.

One student, fourth grader Alyssa Sprinkle, said that she worked with a partner last year, but thought it was easier to do it on her own because then she didn’t have to argue with a partner about how to go about the process. Sprinkle was satisfied with the crystals she grew and displayed at the science fair.

Still, dozens of students partnered up for their projects this year, according to second grade teacher at Baldwin, Nancy Halls. She said 15 of her students participated in the project.

“I think the projects were much more scientific than most would guess for kids in second grade,” Halls said. “They absolutely love it.”

Every participant received a participation button and medal, and seven of the students who participated in the science fair received prizes. Instead of judging individual projects on creativity, at 7 p.m., the PTA drew one participants name per grade and two from fifth grade because they had the highest level of participation. Area organizations donated money for the prizes, which included a digital camera, board game, telescope, iPod shuffle and more.  

"We really take notice of these kids that put time in to do this," Halls said.