MSMS Students Judge Elementary Science Fair
January 30, 2018
At the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, students leap at the chance to embrace community service activities that resonate with local youth, especially if those programs involve math and science. For the MSMS Biochemistry class taught by Dr. Odom, community service is just another part of schoolwork.
The students enrolled in this subject took a recent field trip to Cook Elementary School in Columbus to judge local students’ science fair projects. The contestants presented science projects on a variety of topics, including biochemistry, botany, computer science, chemistry, earth and space science, engineering, physics, microbiology and math.
One Biochemistry student, senior Vivienne Tenev, stated that their teacher had started the tradition of judging at the science fair.
“Dr. O had told us that science fair judging is something that he’s been doing annually for a long time now, and something he started to bring more STEM related activities to New Hope.”
Tenev added, “I’m glad that we were able to help continue this tradition. I think interacting with the students was nice because not only could we ask them about their own science project, but we could also see the enthusiasm with which some of them talked about their projects.”
Students were judged on their ability to communicate chosen topics, describe the methods implemented to prove a hypothesis and enunciate eventual results. The MSMS students also gave additional points when students’ boards were creative and original.
Senior Lydia Holley, a Biochemistry student, said she awarded the most points to students whose boards “didn’t look like they had just been done by their parents.” She valued authentic projects that reflected the kids’ interests.
Her favorite part about judging the science fair was experiencing the creativity there. Her favorite science fair project presented by a student was a popcorn experiment that tested different brands to see which yielded fewer kernels.
Another Biochemistry student, Myles Spillers, also attended the field trip and judged student science experiments as well. His favorite component of the science fair was “listening to the excitement some of the kids had for science,” which was “very inspirational.”
Spillers also described his favorite student-curated presentation:
“My favorite science experiment was a ‘Flubber’ experiment.”
This experiment involved creating different types of “flubber,” or slime, using different ratios of ingredients to get a desired level of bounce, firmness and texture.
“Although it was simple, the methods the student took to get a desired consistency weren’t and [the experiment] showed some foundation for higher science,” Spillers explained.
Tenev’s favorite part was “meeting students that seemed genuinely excited about their projects.”
“Overall, I had an enjoyable time judging projects,” Tenev stated.
“The rubrics we used were pretty clear about what to look out for, and I had a good time reading project boards and talking to the students who had made them.”
Throughout their academic career at MSMS, students who are passionate about math and science continue to participate in community service to uphold the MSMS ideals of service and community. Not only is it a timeless tradition, but it is a way to reach out and encourage the next generation of math and science scholars to excel and succeed in their own academic pursuits.
