Eat your heart out Einstein

By Catherine Rogers

     Can my snake predict the weather?
     Does a person‚Äôs eye color affect their vision?
     How long will it take me to vomit after eating a mealworm and a cricket?
     These are just some of the creative questions school-aged scientists at the West Somerville Neighborhood School asked and answered at this year‚Äôs science fair Feb. 17.

     Dozens of tri-fold, cardboard presentation panels lined hallways, classrooms and the library for students in grades four through eight to present their experiment‚Äôs findings. A few received awards for outstanding research, methods, and presentations while others basked in the sheer creativity of their experiments.
     Fifth-grader Harrison Grams home-built a trebuchet, a kind of medieval catapult, and tested the effects of a flexible throwing arm versus a rigid one.
     While his hypothesis was incorrect, Grams‚Äô extensive research of class one levers ‚Äì the kind loaded on one end, like a see-saw ‚Äì and helped him understand why the rigid arm hurled the ball 47 feet.
     Grams left the fair with a first-place ribbon in hand, and could only think of one change he might have made to his experiment: test his device in a bigger field. At one point, a ball flew into the side of a nearby building. ‚ÄúI kinda dented the house,‚Äù he said.
     Especially for the sixth-graders, who worked alone on their projects for the first time, creativity and discipline played a significant role in getting the work done on time.
   ‚ÄúWe used to divide the work, but now you have to pace yourself so you don‚Äôt miss anything,‚Äù said Zhanea Taylor, who worked for two weeks testing the vision of people with different colored eyes.
    Even for veteran science fair participants, working alone can often be frustrating. For seventh-grader Liam McCain, putting the finishing touches on his presentation posed difficulty after carefully logging the growth of three English Ivy plants. ‚ÄúIt was aggravating. I had to finish in a rush,‚Äù he said.
    Shauna Paquet of grade 7 looked to her own strengths to carry her through the experiment and presentation process. Although she recalled stumbling over her words to the judges ‚Äì a group of students from Somerville High School ‚Äì she received an honorable mention award for her study of the pH level of the human mouth.  ‚ÄúI had to be confident because I couldn‚Äôt rely on another person.‚Äù
    Like many others at the science fair, students‚Äô experiments lead them to consider, even for a moment, studying science in high school or college. To some, the choice was easy. McCain said he wanted to study astronomy and others had clearly laid out aspirations.
   ‚ÄúI want to be a marine biologist when I grow up,‚Äù said Clarissa Henebury, who tested the viscosity of water, oil, and molasses. ‚ÄúMaybe someday we‚Äôll make a submarine that will go deep enough to discover lots of new species,‚Äù she said.