6th grade inventions showcase St. Rose science fair

Andrew Foerch
Posted 5/22/14

Have you ever had trouble sanding something by hand? What about raking your lawn? Have you ever found an umbrella to be less than adequate, or wondered if there was a more efficient way to clean? If …

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6th grade inventions showcase St. Rose science fair

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Have you ever had trouble sanding something by hand? What about raking your lawn? Have you ever found an umbrella to be less than adequate, or wondered if there was a more efficient way to clean? If any of these situations apply to you, sixth graders at St. Rose of Lima School have solutions.

As part of the annual science day last Friday, sixth graders were responsible for designing and presenting a creative, original invention. But there was more to the fair than inventions.

Fourth graders focused on creating and testing a hypothesis, with the ultimate goal of proving or disproving their theories. Ruslan Junco tested the ability of people to identify foods using only smell or only taste. His hypothesis was refuted by the resulting data, as none of the participants were able to correctly guess the food using just one sense.

According to fourth grade teacher Stacey Wildenhain, this structure helps prepare the lower grades for the more rigorous, unabridged project of seventh and eighth grades. Grades seven and eight investigated the scientific method, implementing the steps of the process with an experimental design of their choosing.

Among the inventions were the “Sandpaper Glove,” the “Leaf Catcher,” the “Turbo Cleaner” and the “Umbrella Pack.” Responsible for the design of the sandpaper glove was sixth grader Jacob Morse, who said the glove would be helpful because “electric sanders are expensive, and you can’t really sand curved objects.”

Creators of the leaf catcher were sixth graders Megan Hatfield and Nathan Bowe.

“It’s a black netting that you set down on the ground around the tree trunk, and then when leaves fall you just pick up the net instead of having to rake your lawn,” explained Megan.

Spearheading the organization of the fair was seventh grade science and math teacher Claudine Davenport.

“We try to put the scientific method into the curriculum so it is the most beneficial for the students,” said Davenport. “They need to understand the process is useful.”

Her seventh and eighth grade students are responsible for the completion of a full lab report and a research paper in addition to their visual presentations on display at the fair.

In charge of some of the younger students is fourth grade teacher Stacey Wildenhain. Her students experience an abridged version of the seventh and eighth grade project, with monthly assignment checkpoints focusing around the hypothesis and conclusion segments of the scientific method.

“For fourth grade we really extend the process as preparation for the middle school science fair,” Wildenhain said.

The students were certainly enthusiastic, eagerly explaining their projects to anyone lucky enough to walk by, be it fellow students, faculty or visitors.

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