Four young scientists among the 20 students from ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY competing at the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) District Science Fair at Iolani School will now advance to States for the 2016 Hawai’i State Science & Engineering Fair (HSSEF). The HAIS District Fair is one of nine district fairs across the state that winnow down over 1,000 projects to the few hundred that will advance to the state level.
ISLAND PACIFIC ACADEMY middle school students gather before giving their presentations during the HAIS District Science Fair.
The students and projects moving on to the March competition at the Hawaii Convention Center are:
- Meta Bradley (’22) – “What’s that Floating in the Water?” (category: Microbiology)
- Ian Kam (’21) – “Waste to Watts” (category: Energy/Chemical)
- Gabrielle Lum (’20) and Devyn Manuel (’20) – “Mice Maze” (category: Animal Science)
Bradley with her “What’s That Floating in the Water” presentation board and photos taken during her research.
Kam listens to a judge’s question about his project during the IPA Science Fair held in January.
The four students now have time to make final adjustments to their project presentation boards and practice their oral presentations for the state competition.
A History of Hawaii’s Science Fair
“The Academy sponsored the first Science Fair in Hawaii in 1958 known at that time as the “Hawaiian Science Fair.” Now referred to as the Hawaii State Science & Engineering Fair (HSSEF), students conduct scientific research, prepare a display board explaining the research, and present their findings to individual scientists, community groups and related organizations at the annual fair. Competition begins at the school level where advancement of selected projects move on to District Fairs. A percentage of selected projects at District are given the opportunity to compete for cash, scholarships and other awards at the State Science Fair where the top 5 projects are selected to represent the State of Hawaii at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in May of each year.”
(source http://www.hawaiiacademyofscience.org/science-fair/)
