Elizabeth Avenue School Science Fair Is All Hands-On

Elizabeth Avenue School students had the chance to make their own slime June 2 at the school’s annual Science Fair.

Slime, snakes, moon rocks and ghost crystals?

Must be a science fair.

Elizabeth Avenue School students and their family members converged on the school June 2 for their annual science fair, a compendium of experiments, displays and hands-on projects spread throughout the building.

The program actually began during the school day, when the 4th Grade students, sporting their white lab coats, presented their science projects to the rest of the school, said Shana Ponna, the K-4 science specialist who organized the event.

“All of the 4th Grade students do an individual project at home, with support from their teacher,” she said. “To build up to that, the 3rd Grade students do small group projects in school, with their teachers. K-2 do class projects that are displayed in the hallway.”

There were 17 different stations that could be visited in the school, each one a different display or scientific or engineering project.

One of the newest activities, Ponna said, involved an object that is actually banned from the school.

“Fidget Spinners are in the news,” she said. “They have been banned in a lot of schools, including our school. So I tried to come up with an activity where they could investigate the science principles of centrifugal force and movement.”

“They’re designing a fidget spinner and testing it, then they’re redesigning it, trying to improve its spin time, and make it spin faster,” she said.

But the most popular exhibit has been and continues to be slime, she said.

The students are able to create their own cup of slime, in the color of their choice.

There was also a portable planetarium, an exhibit of snakes and other reptiles the annual project presented by the Society of Women Engineers.

Society members “come every year, and they kind of inspire girls to get involved in science,” Ponna said.  Today they’re trying to prevent a ball, when it’s dropped, from falling out of a device.”

There was also a station where kids could make their own moon rocks, and another where ghost crystals were made. Ghost crystals seem to disappear when they are immersed in water, but show up as large clear rocks when taken out.

Also on hand were volunteers from the Civil Air Patrol, the Franklin High School Robotics Club, and other scientists who came in to share their knowledge.

Following are some scenes from the event:

2017 Elizabeth Avenue School Science Fair

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