Date: Fri 02-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

education-St-Rose-science

Full Text:

Employing The Scientific Method At St Rose

(with photos)

BY ANN MARIE COHEN

How do blimps work? Does your personality affect your hand gestures? Is plant

growth affected by the music it is exposed to? These are just a few of the

questions science students at St Rose have investigated.

Students in Kristen Tamborini's science class, in grades 4 through 8, have

been studying the scientific method since January. Long hours of research and

experimentation were devoted to the project in readiness for the St Rose

Science Fair. The fair was held at St Rose Hall on March 24-26.

Students first chose a topic of interest to them and then followed scientific

procedure to research their topic, as well as conduct the necessary

experiment. Ms Tamborini, science teacher and coordinator of the Science Fair

said, "Students said the project was a lot of hard work but they learned a lot

from it."

Local doctors, and business professionals served as judges of the young

scientists work. Each entry was judged three times using the following

criteria: Quality of scientific method employed, approach to problem solving

-- is it creative? Criteria also included depth of students' understanding of

their topic, clarity, scientific thought, and the quality of the display and

oral presentation.

The judges' final decision ended in a tie. Judged best overall in the fair

were Lisa Dannen, grade 6 and Natalia Fugate, grade 7. Both girls were awarded

$50 gift certificates.

The chosen topic of birds was an easy decision for Lisa. She has had a

passionate interest in birds and has collected nests over several years. The

title of her project was, "Cardinals are Red, Finches are Yellow, These Nests

Were Made By Which Feathery Fellow?" Lisa used the process of elimination on

her project to prove which birds made nests in her collection.

Natalia's project was entitled: "Aerodynamic Lift of a Sphere or Cylinder."

Natalia constructed a wind tunnel made of plywood and plexiglass to prove

Burnelli's Principle. Natalia explains," If air passes the top and bottom of a

cylinder at the same rate, there is no lift; but a spinning cylinder can rise

on its own and move really fast."

Natalia is no stranger to being awarded first place. Earlier this month, she

first place in the Science Horizons regional competition.

Other Award Winners

Receiving honorable mention were fourth grade students Nicole Cunningham,

Carly Leahy, Michael Shannon, John O'Brien, Elizabeth LaPerin, Alison McEmber,

and Jessica Neufield.

Bernard Jamison, grade 5, Amie Walston, grade 6, Kyle Paynter, grade 7 and

Cathy Eaton, grade 8, all received honorable mention as well.

Third prize winners were awarded ribbons: Sean Cummins, grade 5, Kevin Bryne,

grade 6, Matt Kelly, grade 7 and Stephanie Kraushaar, grade 8.

Second prize winners receiving a medal were: Will Culligan, grade 5, Katie

Murphy, grade 6, Colleen Cummins, grade 7, and in grade 8, Maren Anderson.

First prize winners were awarded a $25 gift certificate and a medal. In first

place were: Jackie Ratzing, grade 5, her project title was "Will Two Ears Hear

Better Than One?" Katie O'Connor, grade 6, "Do Enzymes Work Harder With More

Time?" Erin Hayes, grade 7, "Do Your Bananas Need Pajamas?" Erin's task was to

find out if ripening rates of bananas were affected by temperature.

Finally, in grade 8, Jenn Rutzing and Samantha Henderson tied for first place.

Jenn did research on "Testing for the Presence of Monosaccharides in Foods"

and Samantha completed her project, "Color Confusion."