The annual Dutch Hill Science Fair gives students the opportunity to talk about their science learning with real scientists. Community physicians, public health educators, veterinarians, pharmacists and other career scientists and science educators come to school to evaluate science fair projects and interview students.
This year’s science fair was held April 29. Michelle Valentine, a pharmacist and regular participant, says, “When my children were involved in science fairs, I enjoyed seeing what projects other children did. I saw their excitement when they had to explain their project to strangers or friends’ parents. They need an audience.” Up to 25 community scientists are involved each year.
Teresa Rugg, a Dutch Hill parent, helped organize the science fair program, now in its third year. “We wanted to nurture the concepts that learning is fun, and that we can find science in everything we do. We wanted a program that would encourage every child from kindergarten to 6th grade to use their creativity to explore science,” she notes. Rugg recalls her own science fair project on the topic of old time health remedies. “I won the fair, but my teacher didn’t think it was a very suitable project,” she laughs. But Rugg did a tremendous amount of learning through her work on that project and is now a public health educator.
In their individual interviews, the scientists ask students to share what they have learned and what they found interesting. The emphasis is on nurturing the student’s creativity and encouraging them to do further exploration in topics that spark their interest. Projects are critiqued on both verbal and visual presentations, and every student receives a ribbon and a certificate. “There’s no big celebration, and there are no prizes,” says Rugg. “We wanted the emphasis to be on learning, embracing science.”
Valentine comments, “You see some basic projects, but they are interesting nonetheless. Only one student in the class needs to make a volcano, and all the students will remember it.” She notes that many projects indicate a thought process the student goes through to test the things they think they know and don’t know. One example is a seed growth experiment to test how plants grow in different conditions.
Principal Donna Kapustka comments, “My favorite thing about the model Dutch Hill utilizes for its Science Fair participants is that the focus is 100% on student learning and the student’s reflection with their community scientist, not on “winning” a competition or receiving the largest Science Fair ribbon.
Kelly Flynn, a parent and former teacher, assumed leadership of the science fair program this year. “I’m excited about getting students excited about science and sparking their interest in learning,” she says. To keep it fresh and interesting to students, Dutch Hill is looking at partnering with art and/or literacy projects in the future.