Participating in a science fair is a rite of passage for many students. During the last quarter of the school year, seventh graders at Gorham Middle School (GMS) were challenged to participate in one.
They were given guidelines, but were primarily free to develop their own ideas, conduct their own research, and plan their own investigations. Work was done during free time at school and also outside of school hours.
Many students showed initial interest, but in the end there were only three groups of students who completed projects and showcased their findings to their peers the last week of school.
Josephine James, Rachel Cummings, and Allie Sutton performed research on the behavior of magnets, and designed an apparatus to study magnetic levitation. They 3D-printed multiple prototypes of their design.
Photo courtesy of Julie CrossDuring the last week of school, seventh grade science students presented their science fair projects to their peers at GMS and community members.
Junbei Chen and Avery Andrews were interested in how plastics are made, and optimized a process to prepare their own polymer, which they demonstrated.
Finally, Mikaela Pellerin and Elizabeth Willette investigated the brightness of different light sources, using a procedure they developed and materials they identified.
All of these projects were well executed and are evidence of what is possible when students choose to work on things that they find inherently interesting.
On June 13, these students also shared the project results with members of the community outside of GMS. The esteemed visitors included State Senator Amy Volk; Gorham resident and business owner Michael Wing; and several scientists and engineers from IDEXX.
These GMS students fielded many questions from the visitors and were prepared with thorough and insightful responses. All seven participating students said they would be interested in participating in another science fair in the future.