The 8th annual Island Pacific Academy Middle School Science Fair was held on January 12 with over 100 projects on display by individuals or teams. All students in grades 6 through 8 participate in the Middle School Science Fair each year at IPA. Awards were presented during the January 20 middle school Town Hall, where students learned which 20 projects were advancing to the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) District Science Fair.
Eighteen judges comprised of teachers, professionals in related fields from the community (including IPA parents),and IPA high school students who experienced the competition at the district or state level, spent the morning reviewing the projects and hearing presentations from the students. “I heard so many compliments about our students and their projects from our outside judges,” says Michelle Bradley, IPA’s Science Fair Coordinator.
Michelle Bradley explains the judging process of science fair projects to the audience of parents who attended the Award Ceremony Town Hall.
The impressive list of science categories for projects included: Animal Sciences; Behavioral and Social Sciences; Bio-medical and Health Science; Chemistry; Earth and Environmental Sciences; Energy – Chemical; Energy – Physical; Environmental Engineering; Environmental Mechanics, Mathematics; Material Sciences; Microbiology; Plant Sciences; and Robotics.
At the awards ceremony, each student received a certificate from the school and was acknowledged on stage by Chrissy Chow, Middle School Science Teacher, and Kip Cummings, Secondary Division Principal.
Subjects of investigation for projects ranged from gender stereotypes to the growth of plants under different colors of light. The exhibits about best brand of popcorn and hydroponically grown taro might have had some judges thinking about lunch, but the ones about bacteria in water bottles or mold growth on fast food were there to temper appetites. How do video games affect mood, how does stress affect the body, what’s really in dog saliva, can a balloon get punctured without popping, or what fruit makes the best battery? Answers to these questions and more were on display at the science fair.
“Participating in the science fair, all that goes into it, it’s a great learning experience but it’s ‘messy’,” says Bradley. “This ‘messy’ process is what teachers go through every day when we put the student in the center of learning. Instead of saying ‘do this’ we take a step back and help the student find out more about what they want to know” she explained.
The students receiving IPA Science Fair awards from Honorable Mention to “place” awards like 1st, 2nd, 3rd overflowed the stage in the multi-purpose room.
For the 53 winners in the various divisions at the school level, the next step in Science Fair competition is the HAIS District Science Fair which will be held on Saturday, February 6 at Iolani School in Seto Hall. In the morning, students will once again present their projects to judges; in the afternoon the fair will be open to parents. The district level projects that will move on to the Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair (HSSEF) held at the Hawaii Convention Center in March.
Two middle school students who will be advancing to the district HAIS Science Fair are delighted with their success.
The science fair lets our students work through all sorts of the skills we are trying to instill: design process thinking, science thinking, inquiring, planning, time management, and presentation in front of others,” says secondary principal Kip Cummings. “This year our students’ projects were just so very impressive!”
