Mars Area students compete in science fair
Young scientists from across Mars Area School District showed off their STEM skills at the Mars Area Centennial Science Fair on Thursday night.
The event, sponsored by the Mars Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO), involved fifth- and sixth-grade students presenting their projects and being evaluated on the quality of their work.
The Centennial Science Fair returned this year for the first time since the pandemic.
“It was the week right before the shutdown,” said Jenna Falkner, president of the Mars Elementary PTO. “I think we have more projects (this year) than we did that last year in 2020.”
The Mars Area Elementary Science Fair will also return on March 16.
A total of 30 different projects were featured in the fair, with half created by individual students and half created by students in groups of two.
Students could enter projects in two process categories: Engineering Design, which directed students to create a product, define the need for it, and test prototypes; and Scientific Method, a more traditional hypothesis-experiment pathway focusing on asking a question and analyzing conclusions.
Competitors in both categories were asked to analyze their results and conclusions and answer questions as part of an interview in front of their project displays at the fair.
“At the elementary level, we keep it a fun science fair, simply to get the kids excited and interested in science and STEAM, and things like that,” Falkner said. “Here, it’s actually more of a competition, so it’s preparing them as they go through school.”
Science professionals from PPG served as judges and evaluated the students’ projects.
Jackie Kulfan, portfolio manager at PPG, said the judges love working with the children.
“PPG has a Science Education Council, and so we offer outreach and volunteer opportunities for our employees in the neighborhoods where we work,” she said. “When this project came up, we extended an invite, and people love doing this project. These are elementary school students, they’re excited about science, and this is the time to keep them excited about science.”
Project ideas and concepts varied widely. Students Lindsay Hutchens, 10, and Charlotte Forcht, 11, shared one project, which explored how to create crystal egg geodes.
“I just like seeing all the chemical reactions,” Lindsay said. “It’s really cool to learn about different things, and how chemicals work and about nature and the environment.”
