02nd
February 2012
BUDDING
SCIENTISTS
Stan Bishop
Here's
hoping for a scientific future.
For the scores
of students who make their participation in
the annual Montessori Centre Science Fair a
must, there is absolutely nothing weird about
their science. And this year, like the decade
before it, proved nothing less than just that.
The school, located at Rodney Heights, held
its eleventh annual Science Fair last week Thursday
and Friday. The students got the opportunity
to portray their scientific minds via four categories,
namely Demonstrations, Models, Experiments and
Collections.
Benjamin Kuska, science teacher and science
coordinator at the school, explained to The
VOICE just how scientific our probable future
scientists are.
“The kids do most of the preparation by
themselves,” Kuska said. “However,
they receive some assistance from their teachers
and parents. The Science Fair is compulsory
for all Grades 2 to 6 kids, and optional for
the Grade One kids. They are very enthusiastic
about showing off their Science Fair projects
and happy that they get the chance to show their
knowledge as it relates to science and technology.”
According to Kuska, parents get an email about
two months prior to the exhibition. At that
point, the parents assist the children in selection
of a project. On day one, during the show-and-tell
interviews with the judges, each student is
judged using the following criteria: oral presentation,
display, uniqueness of the project, and creativity.
On day two, the exhibition is opened to the
general public.
There was a vast array of projects that depicted
various themes. Themes ranged from generating
electricity, weather measurement, the dangers
of fatty foods, how rainbows are formed, among
others.
The pool of judges comprised students from the
Division of Arts, Science and General Studies
at SALCC and science teachers from various secondary
schools. Shauna Greenidge and Jasia King, both
of whom attend SALCC, are two of the judges.
They also have a close relationship with the
school; they are past students of the Montessori
Centre.
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