Hot Springs science fair displays experiments
<p>Harli Kinney demonstrates her model volcano for other participants in the Hot Springs Elementary Science Fair. After Harli mixed common household items, the volcano erupted with red colored foam.</p>
Volcanoes erupted, crystals grew and eggshells disappeared as the magic of science was on display in the elementary school gym in Hot Springs on Thursday.
Ten students demonstrated their grasp of scientific principles with displays, experiments and exhibits lining the walls of the gym.
Exhibits for the first annual Hot Springs Science Fair demonstrated a wide variety of scientific principles and experiments.
Two displays concerned the physical properties of buoyancy. One showed how origami boats made of several different materials could float and another depicted the forces that led to the sinking of the Titanic.
Two of the more eye-popping exhibits showed what happens when common household items such as water, yeast, dish soap and hydrogen peroxide are mixed.
Nick McAllisters’ project called elephant toothpaste, involved one such reaction resulting in a thick blue paste foaming up and out of a soda bottle and swirling around the table. The concoction lived up to the projects name, resembling an oversized tube of toothpaste.
Harli Kinney’s model volcano garnered an audience as she mixed similar components, sticking them under the foam model and then pouring another mixture in the top.
The result was a geyser of red foam erupting from the model painted to resemble a real volcano.
Other projects included a volcano diorama and exhibit about what happens when one erupts.
Displays about the life cycle of a butterfly, how lemons can conduct electricity, how to dissolve an eggshell using common household items and how to grow crystals rounded out the science fair.
Organized by Parent Involvement Coordinator Jen Christensen and judged by Hot Springs Superintendent Kevin Meredith and Elementary Principal Sean Estill, the science fair was the first of its kind for Hot Springs students.
According to Christensen, “It lets the kids demonstrate the science they have learned in class. These projects are not part of regular class work. They have done all this on their own time at home.”
In the first division consisting of kindergarten through third grade, Rowan Zimmerman took first place followed by Nick McAllister in second and Michael Marrinan in third place.
In the senior division of fourth through sixth grade, Linsay Burgner took first place with Claire McAllister in second and Elena McAllister in third.