Posted on 05/28/2007 8:40:40 PM PDT by ItsForTheChildren
Judy Doerr, the science teacher for middle school students at Pawleys Island Christian Academy (PICA), says she is very pleased with this year’s science fair projects.
“This is the third year we have held the science fair at PICA and I am excited about the variety of projects the students have created,” Doerr said. “This is the first year we introduced the behavioral sciences and they have totally latched onto this new category.” During the fair, students were required to present their project to three different judges, explaining how they formed their hypothesis and reached their conclusion. They also answered the judges’ questions. “What I really love to see is the kids doing the oral presentations,” Doerr said. “On the spot, these students have to talk with three people they do not know, and they have to be able to speak well.”
As part of the science curriculum at the school, all 24 middle school students were required to create a science project, which counts as a test grade. They also had to keep a journal, recounting all of their deliberations while going through the scientific process.
Hunter Bass, a seventh-grade student, did her project on “Testing Behavioral Incentives.” She talked to preschoolers and teachers to find out if there was a difference in what motivates boys versus girls. “I found out that boys respond more to prizes, while girls liked hugs more,” Bass said. She won third place in the Behavioral Science category.
Gary Dean, another seventh-grade student, explored the causes of sink holes. Although he did not win a prize, he learned a lot about the subject. “Sink holes are formed (when) people pump oil out of the ground and they don’t put water down there to replace the oil that was taken out,” Dean said. “It makes the sand collapse because there is nothing to replace it.”
Brian Benson, an eighth-grade student who won first place in the Life Science/Biology category for his project “Creation Wins!!!,” says he disproved part of the theory of evolution. Using a rolled-up paper towel suspended between two glasses of water with Epsom Salts, the paper towel formed stalactites. He states that the theory that they take millions of years to develop is incorrect. “Scientists say it takes millions of years to form stalactites,” Benson said. “However, in only a couple of hours, I have formed stalactites just by using paper towel and Epsom Salts.”
Emily Satcher, a seventh-grader, created an experiment that shows the effect of sunlight on molecules in the air, which creates different colors. Calling her project “Why is the Sky Blue?,” she won second place in the Physical Science category. She found that when she shined a flashlight into a solution of milk and water, it would turn different colors depending on the angle at which she held the flashlight.
“If you put the flashlight — which represents the suns rays — at the top, representing 12 noon, it will make a white-blue color,” Satcher said. “Then as you move it, as the sun would move during the day to the west, to make it a sunset, all the molecules turn red and orange.”
Prizes were awarded for first through third place in Physical Science, Life Science/Biology, Behavioral Science and Engineering. There was also an overall champion named for the best project in the fair.
The winners were:
Physical Science
• 1st place: Thomas Taylor, sixth grade — Lake Algae: How Best to Chemically Remove It.
• 2nd place: Emily Satcher, seventh grade — Why Is the Sky Blue?
• 3rd place: Zade Gundling, sixth grade — What Is the Best Electroplating Material?
Life Science
• 1st place: Brian Benson, eighth grade — Creationism Is the Winner!
• 2nd place: Nicole Cyr, sixth grade — Does Calcium in Milk Strengthen Bones?
• 3rd place: Loryn Hurston, seventh grade: Dog Smarts: What’s Behind Those Puppy-Dog Eyes?
Behavioral Science
• 1st place: Sarah Runyon, eighth grade — Do the Eyes Have It?
• 2nd place: Margie Casella, seventh grade — How Do Fears Change with Age?
• 3rd place: Hunter Bass, seventh grade — Testing behavioral incentives
Engineering
• 1st place: Tyler Bass, sixth grade — Keeping You in Suspension
• 2nd place: Austin Meares, sixth grade — Can We Build an Environmentally Friendly Electric Generator?
• 3rd place: Nathan Williams, eighth grade — A Ping-Pong Catapult and Optimum Launch Conditions.
Overall Champion
• Rachel Harrison, eighth grade — Can a Polarized Lens Affect a Digital Photograph?
Yes; simply re-define "environmentally friendly".
You've got to be kidding me!
Not only did the teacher miss the abuse of science here, but the judges did so as well.
What a disgrace.
The knuckle draggers lost me when they incorporate “creationism” into science, when it should be in metaphysics or theology instead. Then again, it is a private institution, and if they believe that humanity came on flying saucers, that’s their prerogative...
I'll be damned if I can figure out what part of the theory he disproved. And I suspect that you and I know a whole lot more about the subject than the judges.
Kook science ping.
(Thank you whiskeyandvicodin - long may you lurk!)
Thanks for the ping, I guess. I don’t have much to add... just shaking my head. Prediction: next year, this kid will drop a bowling ball to the ground and say that proves the moon doesn’t orbit the earth.
...snip...
Life Science
• 1st place: Brian Benson, eighth grade — Creationism Is the Winner!
God, that stupidity is so bad, it burns!
First, the kid did a physical sciences 'experiment' and not something for the life sciences. There was no biology in it. Secondly, his premise is silly and has nothing to do with stalactite formation!
Both his science teacher and the judge have just created a less scientifically literate student.
The creation/evolution thing aside for a moment, last year I had the opportunity to serve as a judge for a science fair a local public school. The quality of the exhibits was, in my opinion, astoundingly bad. We’re “educating” a generation of children who have had no instruction in logic, a grounding in which must preceed any sort of legitimate scientific inquiry.
And it looks like the private school - what some consider the great savior of our education system - serves us no better, in some cases.
The rest of the topics look pretty genuine, but that one...
Even a creationist has to admit the boy proved nothing about evolution or the age of the Earth.
Idiotic.
Seriously, how do creationists expect to be taken seriously? This is freakin mindboggeling, I’d expect something like this coming out of Iran, not America.
All hail the undoubtedly short-lived return of WhiskeyandVicodin!! When I read about Brian Benson’s “science” project, I threw up a little bit...and died inside. Ironically enough, I think his “science” teachers are the best evidence against evolution we may ever find. This may be stupidity, but at least it isn’t government mandated stupidity.
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