Scientific thinking at St. Paul’s School
Annual science fair features a record 190 projects
Every experiment imaginable was represented at the annual School Science Fair, held at St. Paul’s in Norwood on Nov. 26. The students showed great ingenuity by using every material imaginable to demonstrate their chosen topics.
A record number of 190 projects were on display in the school’s gymnasium with even more overflowing into the hallways. The fair was open to the public and many family, friends and community members stopped by to see the many projects and to encourage the students with their presentations.
The students-turned-scientists demonstrated a topic of their choice for their classmates, teachers, their families and judges.
The school board’s “inquirybased learning” technique has the students ask themselves a question on a topic that interested them.
Students from grades 2 to 8 were then required to discover, refine and apply their own methods to answer their own question. The resulting experiments and conclusions formed the basis for their science projects.
This approach makes the judges’ job even more difficult as it creates an amazing variety of projects. The intuition and curiosity displayed along with the amount of work involved from the young scientists was impressive, with many students successfully tackling topics well above their grade levels.
Three kindergarten classes participated in a whole class study with questions and experiments on biology such as how germs grow and spread, a giant insect found in the yard and how trees grow.
The Grade 1 class created “Wonder Projects” based on the question “What do you wonder?” The students researched questions like “how does my heart work?” and “why does it hurt when I hit my funny bone?”
While each student in the school received a participation certificate, the top projects from grades 2 to 8 as decided by a team of volunteer judges from the community and from the local high school will go on to compete against projects from other schools in the area at the upcoming science fair at Trent University.
Top projects listed from Grade 2 to Grade 8 included: Unbeleafable: The Study of Leaves by Natalie Doherty, Saliva Science by Kaitlyn Doherty and Dayla Neto, How Do You See Colour? by Jolene Payne, Is There Really Iron In Our Cereal? by Avery Rogers, What Type of Fertilizer is Better for Crop Yield? by Katie Payne, Sea Ya Salt! by Alberta Robertson and The Science of Fear by Ashlin English and Kiera Menzies.
St. Andrew’s Bazaar
Norwood’s St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 19 Flora St., is hosting their annual Christmas Bazaar, bake sale and luncheon on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pick up some of the church’s famous shortbread, butter tarts, fruit pies, frozen meat pies and more.
Find the perfect gift at the vendors and craft tables and enjoy a delectable soup and sandwich lunch for $10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Please take note that this is the final church bazaar in the area before Christmas.