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Science an intriguing affair at St. Lucia's Montessori Centre!

Posted by CaribShout on February 2, 2010 at 10:30pm

Ariana Beaubrun all smiles with her project. Science Fair time is an exciting and much anticipated period for students at the Montessori Centre as they get the opportunity to take science straight out of the textbook and bring it to life through hands-on experiments. There were over 100 submissions in the Montessori Centre’s Annual Science Fair and contributing projects included studies into solar and lunar eclipses, plate tectonics, the Lemon battery, magnetism, atoms, static electricity, bubble formation at different temperatures, rock erosion, measuring density and the benefits of exercise. Gerian Dantzie’s Butterfly Life Cycle!

Students had dozens of scientific questions they set out to find the answers to including: “What makes popcorn pop? How do you make glue? How do bananas grow? How do plants absorb water for photosynthesis? How can you make soap using household items?” The Science Fair was held on January 28 and 29 at the Montessori Centre and was open to the public. Judging was done on day one and on the second day, this reporter was taken on a classroom tour to meet with students. I was met with enthusiasm and one student, an excited Ariana Beaubrun exclaimed: “Ooh, the STAR is here! Do I get a picture? I’m going to be in the newspaper!” (We could not disappoint). Ariana quickly introduced her project that aimed to determine whether seeds would germinate in liquids other than water. For her experiment she’d placed a single seed in three separate containers, one that contained vinegar, a second, water and the third, soda. In the end she noted that the acid in vinegar made the seed lighter when it was left over a period of time. She determined that placed in vinegar, the seed took a longer time to germinate. Beaubrun also explained that the colouring in soda stained the seeds making them darker while the sugar and preservatives halted germination. Another student, Lyn’elle Ramjeawan’s project title was: “Leaves and What They Do For You.” She highlighted guava leaves and their ability to counteract diarrhea, abdominal pain, menstrual cramps and cure hangovers, and the way sour orange could calm frazzled nerves or anxiety.

Ian Spieglberg and “The Potato Launcher.” In her project, grade six student Demi Devaux, wanted to find out who was the most recognized famous person to the Montessori students. She conducted a survey where she showed the students pictures of various well known figures including Brittany Spears, Kenny Anthony, Sir John Compton, Zac Efron, Will Smith, Tiger Woods, Nick Jonus, Miley Cyrus and Barack Obama. In the end three celebrities earned the top spot, Barack Obama, Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron. “I just like to see famous people so I figured I should do something around that,” Demi Devaux explained. Demi’s twin sister, Dayna Devaux’s project questioned whether chewing gum helped improve one’s memory. Using flash cards she conducted experiments on willing participants, with and without chewing gum in their mouths, and one teacher exclaimed, “I’m convinced! Somehow it works.” From the results gathered Dayna’s conclusion was that chewing gum did in fact improve a person’s memory. Grade five student Gerian Dantzie went through the butterfly’s life cycle in his project, using a creative papier mâché display. Sofia Spieglberg’s red-eared slider turtle was a star attraction. The grade five student conducted her own feeding, handling and tank cleaning experiments all in an effort to learn more about the turtle life cycle. Sofia’s brother Ian Spieglberg’s Potato Launcher was a must see demonstration. Zayda Gajadhar made her own solar cooker out of a cardboard box, glue, aluminum foil, tape and shredded paper on which she made her own hot dogs, while Kaicey Julian made banana wine. Nonalcoholic, mind you, much to the delight of her teachers. “Most people think that grapes are the only thing that can be used to make wine but that’s not true,” Kaicey told the STAR. “I like to experiment and I wanted to try something different. I decided on something to do with food that people would be interested in for sure!”

Sofia’s red-eared slider turtle was a star attraction. Kaicey’s wine was made using raisins, sugar, bananas, yeast and water. Her concoction had a genuine rich wine aroma and she explained that at two-weeks-old, her wine was still in the fermentation stage. She had to wait one more week before she could develop it further. Judging would be done in five divisions, A: Kindergarten, B: Grade One, C: Grade Two, D: Grade Three and Four E: Grade Five and Six, and in four basic categories, demonstrations, experiments, collections and models/displays. “This year the standard is just as high as it has always been,” Liz Altifois, grade four teacher, and one of the fair’s overseers told me. “We had about 137 entries in all and the judges had the most difficult time choosing the most creative and best oral presentation, which are two of the most important aspects.” Altifois said the fair was necessary to foster scientific thinking skills and to teach students that science was not just for the classroom. “The students were really excited, they all put a lot of work into their projects but it’s a pity we can only award first, second and third in each category for each division,” she said. Trophies and books will be given to the winners and certificates of participation to all students.
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