MONROE - Despite heavy snow and strong winds, the M Room at Monroe High School bustled with students and adults happy to take in the work of roughly 70 freshmen for the first science fair in years Monday.
Spearheaded by high school science teacher Mark Dickson, the science fair had 46 presentations, all of which followed the scientific method to either prove or disprove student theory.
"Literally, some of them brought me close to tears because they were so good," Dickson said to the crowd before announcing winners. "To me, that's science; not just studying out of a textbook. A lot of these guys really went out of their way. One of the inspirations for doing this tonight was just to show you the awesome things they can put together."
Lined up over three lunch tables, large tri-fold poster boards displayed colorful titles, photos of animals and expertly designed charts. Each had a hypothesis, the method of the experiment and what the students found in conducting it.
Freshman Rebekah Rath had a bright red exhibit called "Radical Radishes," which highlighted the use of germination. Using some radish seeds she was given by Dickson, Rath said her project helped her learn about the process of seed development and how planters who want to organize early in the season can benefit from understanding that process.
She said she was glad to take part in the re-introduction of a science fair in the district.
"I wasn't as surprised because I thought that was just, like, a high school thing to do," Rath said. "We're the first one in a while. I like it."
Dickson, who noted he was unsure exactly how long it had been since the last science fair at Monroe, said he considered the night a success because of the turnout, even with heavy snow piling up outside. The winners were announced about 15 minutes early because of the worsening conditions.
Zoee Pond took first place for "Cupcakes are Rising," which required baking and the manipulation of standard ingredient measurements. A second-place trophy was given to Jaclyn Hayes for "Radiant Colors," which looked to prove that the shorter the wavelength or darker the color, the more radiant energy is absorbed. Gavin Jensen was given third for his project titled "What's your favorite type of chicken feed?"
Viewers also voted for their favorites. The student choice was "Legs for Days" by Jeannette Ackerman and Jamie Keene. The hypothesis was to prove dogs with longer legs would run faster. Ackerman thanked science, Dickson and all of the dogs that participated in the experiment, which drew cheers from the crowd of students.
Parent choice was given to "Got Gum?" by Madison Markham and Anika Einbeck, while the teachers' favorite resulted in a tie between Owen Smith and Collin Zaradaka for "Is distance and explosion related?" and Marissa Ellefson's project, "How Hot Are You?"
The students had the first semester to plan their projects, working on them outside of class and putting finishing touches on their work within the last few weeks. Some were long-term, like examining the genetics of different breeds of swine, while others looked at paintball ballistics, whether some people were actually fast readers, bubbles and salty eggs. One even examined whether the highest amount of Snapchats, messages sent via the popular photo and video app, received by students would be during the fifth period of the day.
A project by 14-year-old Hunter Suthers studied speed relative to reaction time in video games.
"I'm a big fan of video games in general, so it's a project I've been looking forward to for a while," he said, noting he likes to charge through games faster than most people.
His method prompted him to examine how speed relates to performance and found quickness was good in most high-quality games within the first two hours, but reactions declined once players hit hour three.
"It was pretty fun," Suthers said. "I think that I did pretty good, I would maybe try to do a little bit better with the design next time."
Spearheaded by high school science teacher Mark Dickson, the science fair had 46 presentations, all of which followed the scientific method to either prove or disprove student theory.
"Literally, some of them brought me close to tears because they were so good," Dickson said to the crowd before announcing winners. "To me, that's science; not just studying out of a textbook. A lot of these guys really went out of their way. One of the inspirations for doing this tonight was just to show you the awesome things they can put together."
Lined up over three lunch tables, large tri-fold poster boards displayed colorful titles, photos of animals and expertly designed charts. Each had a hypothesis, the method of the experiment and what the students found in conducting it.
Freshman Rebekah Rath had a bright red exhibit called "Radical Radishes," which highlighted the use of germination. Using some radish seeds she was given by Dickson, Rath said her project helped her learn about the process of seed development and how planters who want to organize early in the season can benefit from understanding that process.
She said she was glad to take part in the re-introduction of a science fair in the district.
"I wasn't as surprised because I thought that was just, like, a high school thing to do," Rath said. "We're the first one in a while. I like it."
Dickson, who noted he was unsure exactly how long it had been since the last science fair at Monroe, said he considered the night a success because of the turnout, even with heavy snow piling up outside. The winners were announced about 15 minutes early because of the worsening conditions.
Zoee Pond took first place for "Cupcakes are Rising," which required baking and the manipulation of standard ingredient measurements. A second-place trophy was given to Jaclyn Hayes for "Radiant Colors," which looked to prove that the shorter the wavelength or darker the color, the more radiant energy is absorbed. Gavin Jensen was given third for his project titled "What's your favorite type of chicken feed?"
Viewers also voted for their favorites. The student choice was "Legs for Days" by Jeannette Ackerman and Jamie Keene. The hypothesis was to prove dogs with longer legs would run faster. Ackerman thanked science, Dickson and all of the dogs that participated in the experiment, which drew cheers from the crowd of students.
Parent choice was given to "Got Gum?" by Madison Markham and Anika Einbeck, while the teachers' favorite resulted in a tie between Owen Smith and Collin Zaradaka for "Is distance and explosion related?" and Marissa Ellefson's project, "How Hot Are You?"
The students had the first semester to plan their projects, working on them outside of class and putting finishing touches on their work within the last few weeks. Some were long-term, like examining the genetics of different breeds of swine, while others looked at paintball ballistics, whether some people were actually fast readers, bubbles and salty eggs. One even examined whether the highest amount of Snapchats, messages sent via the popular photo and video app, received by students would be during the fifth period of the day.
A project by 14-year-old Hunter Suthers studied speed relative to reaction time in video games.
"I'm a big fan of video games in general, so it's a project I've been looking forward to for a while," he said, noting he likes to charge through games faster than most people.
His method prompted him to examine how speed relates to performance and found quickness was good in most high-quality games within the first two hours, but reactions declined once players hit hour three.
"It was pretty fun," Suthers said. "I think that I did pretty good, I would maybe try to do a little bit better with the design next time."