Schools
Pleasant Ridge Elementary Holds Science Fair
Young science enthusiasts display experiments and research project.
More than 100 Pleasant Ridge Elementary students participated at Thursday's Science Fair organized by science teacher Sherry Soenen. This is the first year kindergartners have shared the building with their older counterparts, and they were just as excited to participate.
Kindergartner Ming Saiya brought a guitar to demonstrate sound waves and vibrations.
“The big waves make low sounds like a lion,” Saiya said, “and small waves make a high sound like a bird.”
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The kindergartners and first grade students were housed in the cafeteria with projects ranging from rainbows and expanding soap to bubble painting, rockets and magnets.
“I thought it was cool that steel wool sticks to magnets in baby oil,” said first grader Tyler Friedholm.
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Second and third grade students were located in the gymnasium, and with good reason. The extra space was needed for flying airplanes, popping balloons and chemical gelatin making. Some of the more complex exhibits included the human brain, a working motor, and rotted teeth in an exhibit by second grader Alex Charney titled “What Not To Drink.”
Alexia Miller, also a second grader, calculated how many helium balloons it would take to lift certain weight.
“It would take 7,840 balloons to lift me,” she said.
Pleasant Ridge Principal Shelia Light was in high demand.
“I’ve got one more on this side and I’ll be right over,” she said to a student wanting to show her his project. Light didn’t miss one.
“All of the kids do such a good job,” Light said. It took her the entire evening to speak with, and ask questions of each student.
“So the brain sees first, then understands?” she asked of third grader Sam Scarlett, “Yes, and different parts of the brain do different things,” Scarlett said.
Students had scheduled times to present their projects and then explore others.
Educators said the fair was a success.
“I would like to say a special thanks to the parents of all our presenters for helping make this evening happen,” Soenen said.