Science Fair peaks curiosity in young minds

Did you see it? A mini Mount Vesuvius gushing with vinegar and baking soda, newly-hatched chicks, hair-raising displays of static electricity, homemade biodegradable plastic — all manor of scientific exploration and inquest was on display at Rhinelander High School on Thursday, where dozens of elementary school students gathered to share their science projects with the community.

“It’s very important to peak the kids’ curiosity,” said Marnie Rotta, a fifth-grade teacher at Northwoods Community Elementary School. “It’s all about curiosity because once they have something they drive after or want to investigate, it causes them to think about solutions to problems.”

The student projects, which were voluntary and completed outside of school hours, all started with a hypothesis. After students prepare the experiment, they test the hypothesis — and it’s not always what they expect. This happened to one of Rotta’s students. 

“She got to learn it was the opposite of what she expected and now she knows why,” Rotta said.

The science fair was held in previous years at Central Elementary School, with only CES students participating.

“This is the first year we’ve combined for one full science fair, so we weren’t really sure how it would turn out,” said Sara Lange, fair organizer and fifth-grade teacher at CES. “We hosted at the high school to have more space. We had about 60 kids sign up. It turned out great.”

The fair, which was held after school on Thursday, April 10, was well attended by family and community members who were encouraged to ask the students about their experiments.

“I like that I get to share this with the community because maybe then other people can try it too and spend quality time together,” fourth-grader Emma Belliveau said. 

Belliveau and her brother Daniel studied acid and bases by placing eggs in three different solutions: vinegar, Coke Zero and Coke, to see how the eggs reacted to the liquids.

“The vinegar dissolved the whole shell and the Coke Zero and the Coke just stained it,” she said. “All the sugar dissolved into or onto the eggs and then it dyed them.”

Fifth-grader Madi Gerdes created a biodegradable plastic out of a simple solution of milk and vinegar.

“When you make it the milk has to be a certain temperature, when it’s mixed with vinegar it makes a dough — kind of like cheese curds, it separates the protein from the milk,” Gerdes said. “They used to make buttons out of it, there are other things they used to make out of it.”

Third-grader Jonathan Liebsch Jr. made a volcano using baking soda and vinegar.

“I first put in vinegar, water and food coloring and then I put the baking soda and water in there and it exploded with foam,” Liebsch explained.

Liebsch’s hypothesis was that mixing the two ingredients would create a reaction that would “explode with foam.” Along the way, Liebsch said, he learned that he needed to add some dish soap to create a bigger explosion.

Second-grader Josie Foley experimented with surface tension by creating a bubble using a frame of straws, then placing a string in the bubble to create a hole in the bubble. After several tests, she said, they added corn syrup to the bubble mixture to increase surface tension.

Placing the science cap on attendees, one clear observation an outsider could make was that almost all the students were accompanied by parents, who helped their children research, create and test the experiments outside of the classroom.

“One of our big things is the family involvement,” Lange said. “This is a family-based project so we encourage families and parents to help their kids with the project and to be here with them as well. Family engagement is a big piece, but we also just want kids to learn something. There isn’t always a lot of time for science in the school day, so its an opportunity to learn something new and do a project with their families.”

With any luck, Emma Belliveau’s hypothesis that others can try the experiments at home “and spend quality time together” will be proven true.

Michael Strasburg may be reached at [email protected].