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Students put their science skills to the test at Leonard Middle School. Jonathan Doty, a graduate of the University of Maine and science and math teacher at Leonard Middle School, recently asked UMaine students if they would help out with the fifth annual science fair. His sixth grade class spent the better part of the winter months preparing themselves for a March 24 fair, when they would have a chance to show off all their hard work. University students helped them complete this long-awaited event when they showed up early in the morning for a briefing on the judging process.
The judges of the fair walked around the gymnasium talking with students about their projects, determining who best followed the scientific method. Nicholas Bonzey, ecology and environmental science major, was among the judges.
“The kids all seem to have something prepared to say. It’s going well, a lot of them are on the ball, have pretty good projects, and know what to do with the scientific method,” he said.
These sixth graders are learning science awareness and getting a chance to show it off to other students, parents and community members. Inadvertently, these students are also learning communication skills by preparing presentations.
The judges varied in association to the university. Some were undergraduates, graduates, faculty and three students who are still in high school taking university classes. Joshua Toothaker, a secondary science graduate student, said he enjoyed the event.
“It’s good to come out and see where the state of science education is, I think it’s really important,” he said.
The students were responsible for coming up with a hypothesis, testing that hypothesis and drawing a conclusion. The entire process was then transferred to a backboard that was set up any way the student desired as long as it clearly explained their experiment.
The winner of the school’s science fair is going to go on to the state competition, there will also be awards given for best interactive lesson and oral presentation.
Susan Linscott, a science teacher at Old Town High School is seeking a masters degree in science education and thinks there is something in the science fair for the adults along side the students.
“It’s important for them to have a chance to see what the children are doing in the schools, people who are out in the community sometimes get disconnected from the schools, and this is a chance to see what the kids are interested in,” Linscott said.
