LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Record Participation in Lafayette's Science Fairs


Lafayette Elementary third-grader Alexander Sales expresses excitement about his Lemon Battery Experiment: "It actually lit! Wow!" Photo courtesy Maryanne McCormick

Over 1,400 K-5 students participated in the Lafayette Partners in Education (LPIE) sponsored science fairs in the Lafayette School District this year. Student science fair projects included classic experiments, as well as non-traditional ones. Stock performance analysis was shown by Lila Chatterton, and Dolbear's Law was investigated by fellow Burton Valley Elementary fifth-grade student Owen Holbreich, who correlated temperature with cricket chirp rates.

"In student science fair exhibits, there is powerful evidence of exceptional skill in collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking," said Lafayette School District Superintendent Fred Brill.

Helping to build the excitement at the fairs, Lafayette community member Mark Brast explored the evening constellations, physical chemist and Lafayette Elementary School parent David Osborn, shattered flowers frozen with liquid nitrogen, and Springhill parent Nanette Heffernan's Green Team monitored energy consumption. LPIE instructors investigated the character of friction, and Lawrence Hall of Science challenged the squeamish with a hands-on display of live cockroaches. They were joined by Lindsay Wildlife Museum, Camp Edventurmore, Camp Galileo, Sangamo Biosciences, Astrowizard, and Mt. Diablo Bee Association.

The LPIE science fairs complement classroom science instruction. Debbie Goettsch, Physician's Assistant and LPIE Science Instructor said, "The science fairs are great because they give kids a chance to explore and research an area of science they're interested in."

Yogurt Shack continued its generous tradition of providing a free yogurt coupon to every student participant.

Finishing the science fair season, the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is scheduled from 6 to 9 p.m. March 28 at Stanley Middle School. Participating students must build a machine that can pop two balloons in 10 to 15 steps of energy transfer. There won't be a shortage of pulleys, batteries, dominos, catapults - or excitement - in the Stanley gym!