Fifth-grade students impress onlookers during science fair
The cafeteria at Chairville Elementary School in Medford was transformed on April 13 into a display hall full of science projects for the Fifth-Grade Science Fair. Dozens of exhibits, ranging from “Do siblings have similar fingerprints” to “Saltwater or Vinegar,” lined the middle of the cafeteria. Family members and even students from other grades came by to view the work.
Anthony Maffel, 10, created “My Pencil Rheostat,” which involved a pencil, battery, a light and wires.
“I like it because the science fair is fun and I get to show my project to other people and kids, and I get to learn more,” Anthony said.
Eleven-year-old Kiera Eisenberg did an experiment that involved a flower and what effects certain liquids could have on it.
“I was looking for something to do for my experiment that wouldn’t be a demonstration, and I found this experiment but saw that it would be a demonstration,” Kiera said. “What I did was took it and made it a challenge, finding which one would come out with the most vivid color. I decided to use three liquids: vinegar, water and a mixture of both. I put a carnation in each cup with some food coloring. I left it in for a few days and found that the one with the vinegar and water mixture died first. Then, the vinegar died second, but the water is still alive. It took about six days to complete.”
One of the more unique experiments was from fifth-grader Nick Eckert who researched food from a popular fast-food chain and how long the food would last in different environments.
“McDonald’s stuff is sort of really good and sometimes not that good,” Nick said. “I decided which cheeseburger would I eat: The one in the outside sunlight, indoor sunlight, outside dark or indoors in the dark. The burger that was placed inside in the sunlight had the worst smell of all. When you felt the burger, it was really hard, and the burger also shrunk, which is not good. I couldn’t believe it because it only happened after 10 days which is unbelievable. If you are going to get McDonald’s, you should just eat it right away.”
“I am so impressed with all of the hard work that the fifth-graders did,” Funk said. “I am just impressed with the kids and how hard they worked on the projects, and I know our fourth-graders are excited to do them next year.”
Click the box below to see more pictures from the science fair
