Thomas Fitzwater Science Fair Continues to Grow

Did you know that the best way to preserve lettuce is by storing it inside a sealed container with a lid in the fridge?

Thomas Fitzwater Elementary fifth-grade students Emily Toth and Sarah Bachman observed this to be the case after conducting the scientific method in an experiment , they called “Fresh From the Farm.”

The students entered their findings as part of the second-annual Thomas Fitzwater Elementary Fifth-Grade Science competition, which was held during the school’s long-running Science Fair, March 21.

“They entered for the challenge of it,” Jennifer Thoth, Emily’s mother and first-grade teacher at Thomas Fitzwater, said. “They’re very driven, and there is a lot of smart kids in the fifth-grade class.”

Emily and Sarah, whose “Fresh From the Farm” science took first place in the competition, said they wanted to do the project, based off their experience participating in the school’s Science Fairs of previous years.

“I did it last year for the first time and it was fun,” Emily said. “And, I decided to do it again.”

“It was really fun,” Sarah added with a smile.

It would seem that the sciences have captured the attention of students at Thomas Fitzwater Elementary.

A Growing Science Fair

The elementary school has held its science fair for over 15-years now (likely much for much longer), school officials and event organizers say. According to Jennifer Ruppel, science fair co-coordinator, the event is run through the school’s Parent-Teacher-Organization (PTO), and has seen an increase in both student and community participation over the recent years.

“It’s a long-standing tradition that continues to grow,” Ruppel said.

She noted that this year, more fifth-grade students had participated with the science competition. In all, over 90 of the school’s kindergarten through fifth-grade students participated with their own scientific experiments, proudly showcasing their findings on the familiar tri-fold poster boards, set-up throughout the school’s gymnasium.  

Michelle Sirota, Thomas Fitzwater PTO president, said that the event is also an excellent opportunity for families and the community to come out and support the students.

“It’s a great way to be involved in education and help improve the school community,” Sirota said, who gladly noted the large attendance of family and community members at this year’s Science Fair.

Ruppel suggested that changes and additions to the event’s format over the years have helped attract students and the community, such as including the fifth-grade competition and displaying individual classroom science projects. New this year were the Science Explorers, an afterschool and summertime youth science education business, whose representatives added an entertainment component to the science fair by inviting the students to create their own green silly putty.

STEM at Thomas Fitzwater

Faculty and school administrators are also working hard to encourage student-interest in the Science Fair.

Peter Alston, Thomas Fitzwater Elementary principal, said that teachers started reminding their students about the Science Fair at the beginning of the school year. According to Alston, the Science Fair is part of the school’s effort to steer its young students toward serious studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, otherwise known as STEM.

Alston added that teachers at Thomas Fitzwater often include aspects of STEM within most of their lessons. As an example, he said that students learning about Social Studies may refer to an online resource that reveals what the weather was like on an important date in history, which not only provides perspective to an event, but also familiarizes the students with available technology.

“STEM is where all the jobs are going,” Alston said. “We want to cultivate that now, and give them a great opportunity to be involved.”

Thomas Fitzwater second-grade teacher Keely Clauson said that the Science Fair is a way for the students to demonstrate what they’ve been learning all year.

“I think this is a good opportunity for the kids to show what inspires them,” Clauson said. “It’s so important, because it will spark that future growth in the field of science.”

Winners of the 2013 Fifth-Grade Thomas Fitzwater Elementary Science Fair 

First Place – “Fresh From the Farm”

• Emily Toth

• Sarah Bachman

Second Place — “Video Games with a Beat”

• Natalie Swift

• Brianna Freeman

• Nick Freeman

Third Place — “How do Most People Learn Best?”

• Megan O’Halloran

• Rushmika Inyer

Honorable Mention —“Radical Reflexes”

• Baily Rifkin

• Micheala Patalano