The Renaissance School held its annual Science Fair on Monday, February 18^th, and the students’ projects were nothing short of creative, impressive and thorough.

The goal of the students was to scientifically test a hypothesis, and then to demonstrate their findings based on their results.

Lucy Pappas tested ways in which you could cut onions without crying to determine which were the most effective. Cutting them underwater proved to be the best if you were looking to make sure you wouldn’t cry, but it wasn’t her preferred method.

“Onions are too hard to cut underwater,” said Pappas.

She preferred cutting them with goggles on.

“Onions release a gas that makes you cry when you cut them. If you have the goggles on, it helps. It doesn’t make it stop, but it helps a lot,” said Pappas.

Students participating in the Science Fair came from grades 3 through 8, thirty students in all. They presented their projects to their families and also to their peers. Each student received an award certificate for participating in the Science Fair.

Among the most popular were David Johnson’s project on rubber band energy and Haley Harder’s on camouflage.

Why? Well, Johnson’s involved flying airplanes outfitted with coiled rubber bands for engines, and Harder’s test subjects had to be eaten. There were more than enough to go around.

Her test involved placing M&M’s on a background that matched their particular color, and then tested to see what colors were left after a timed interval.

“Green M&M’s resting on green construction paper tend to be leftover,” said Harder, going on to point out that the colors that stood out more seemed to be eaten first, while when their color matched their background, they were least likely to be eaten.

“In the end, though, we ate them all,” she said.