Student scientists show skills

Elizabeth Bailey

Fri, May 16 2008

— Before the students of Greensburg Elementary School headed off for spring break, the seeds of the science fair had been planted. Yesterday and today, the fruits of their labor are on display.
Tom Walters, fifth grade teacher, noted the science fair process has become more streamlined in the past few years. With the guidance of science teacher Linda Kramer and their classroom teachers, the fourth and fifth grade students planned their projects further in advance than previous years, he said. Walters went on to point out the teachers worked as a team to help the students remain on schedule and conduct their experiments.
Tory Wamsley, fifth-grade student of Pam Emly, won first place standing with a project about pulleys. She said the project was a lot of fun and she enjoyed it from start to finish. Kelsie Fischer, fifth-grade student of Mitch Sefton, chose to focus on fossils for her project. She said her interest in fossils is the result of summer vacations, when her family travels to the beach and use sieves in the surf to sift out fossils. Her best, she noted, was a fish fossil.
From egg launchers to plants, the students tested their hypotheses and recorded the results. Yesterday, each young scientist presented his or her project to a judge, explaining the process and showcasing the results. In the evening, parents and families got to see the projects in rows of posterboard, lined up during family fun nights, first for fifth grade last night and again tonight for fourth grade.
Principal Rock Linville enjoys the many family fun nights hosted by the school. He noted the Parent Teacher Organization meetings can be daunting to those who are not familiar with the structured process. With Family Fun Nights, the parents have an opportunity to get involved at the school in a fun, unstructured environment. For some, he pointed out, it can be one of the rare nights set aside to sit down together for a meal. At the same time, it gives the students a chance to show off what they have been doing at school, he noted.

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