A mixture of excitement and nervousness filled the air as students, parents, and teachers arrived at the Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair on Saturday, April 2.  After successfully presenting their projects at the school science fair in mid-March, sixth graders from The Renaissance School continued to refine their projects over the following three weeks for presentation at Saturday’s state fair.  The students felt well prepared and were excited for the first judge to approach.

This year’s science fair at The Renaissance School featured projects by students in 4th through 6th grades.  Students were encouraged  to develop a testable question to explore a topic of personal interest using the scientific inquiry process, and the variety of projects reflected the students’ wide-ranging natural curiosity.

Fred Evering, a local scientist and member of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences, is a returning visitor to the school’s fair and shared his observation that, “The students show how much effort went into the work.  Every year I am impressed with the quality of the students' presentations and the poise of the children in all grades. This reflects the commitment and caring of their teachers and parents. How nice it is to visit your school!”

Many of this year’s projects were related to the children’s yearlong science theme studies of environmental stewardship, including composting, phosphorus and the nutrient cycle, the polarity of water molecules, and the relationship between the presence of dissolved oxygen and fish breathing rates.  Other projects asked questions which reflected the children’s natural curiosity about science in their everyday lives: hamster behavior in the dark, the effects of movement on focus and memory, subliminal messaging, sailing, air pressure rockets, music and human emotions, optical illusions, and making bouncy balls.

The children’s energy and enthusiasm was readily apparent.  Their eager, smiling faces were a warm welcome to science fair visitors, and the students eagerly explained their projects to younger schoolmates and adults alike, adapting their level of science vocabulary and the complexity of their explanations to each new audience.  Fourth grader Caleb Oliveira even scheduled group demonstrations so that he could clearly explain how he conducted his tests to determine the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water of an aquarium.  As he demonstrated the test to each small audience, he explained the process step by step.

“One of the primary goals of our science fair is for children to use the scientific inquiry method to learn more about a topic in which they are interested.  That's one reason the projects are so diverse in nature.  The children have individual interests that take them in many different directions,” said classroom teacher Eve Dubois.

The students begin with a topic and then conduct research to find out what other scientists have discovered about their chosen topic.  This leads to the formulation of a testable question, one for which they can design an experiment which will hopefully answer the question.  By conducting science experiments and learning about the scientific method throughout the school year, the children are aware of the need to design their experiments carefully to control variables and reduce the possibility of errors.

Dubois continued, “In some cases, children refine their testing procedures, redesigning their experiments when they discover that their original plan doesn't work the way they had expected.  Throughout the year, we also discuss the fact that the point of science is to learn more about the world and how it works, so disproving one's hypothesis is just as valuable as proving one's hypothesis correct.  If we were always correct when we made scientific predictions, there wouldn't be any point to conducting experiments.  Part of the joy of science is the possibility of the unexpected!”
Visitors to the fair commented on the children’s enthusiasm for their work.  A visiting intern from Shelburne Farms wrote, “This science fair is great!  I’m so impressed with students’ maturity, their expertise, their ability to convey their discoveries!  What great work!”

Tricia Finkle, one of two co-coordinators of the Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair, was also impressed with the children’s work.  “The Renaissance School science fair is an example of how students can fully demonstrate the science inquiry standards, while engaging in personalized and authentic learning, across grades and abilities, truly a model for educational reform at the elementary level.” 

At the state level, Sixth graders Alexander Duchac and Tristan Nagiba represented The Renaissance School with projects on abating phosphorus runoff and comparing the effectiveness of different sail shapes, respectively.  Both students were awarded silver medals from the Vermont Principals Association for excellent projects, and Alexander also won a $50 prize from Green Mountain Water Environment Association, as well as a Next Generation Scholarship to Green Mountain College. As an exciting wrap-up to the experience, Alexander presented his award-winning project about phosphorus runoff on WCAX TV’s live news program “The :30” which was aired on April 6.