Sixth Graders Return from Regional Fair with Science Prizes

Four Meadowlark Elementary School sixth graders travelled with their teacher Mrs. Alicia Noel to Great Falls on March 5 to compete in the Regional Middle School Science Fair. Noel received indication of prizes this past March 11.

After winning Chinook's science fair, Cali Van Voast, Garrisen Powell, Rian Molyneaux, and Sasha Anderson all advanced to the Regional Science Fair. Held at Great Falls College MSU, the fair's participants were judged on scientific thought and engineering, clarity, creative ability, thoroughness, and skill.

According to Noel, several of the 125 projects displayed were similar, but some of the designs attracted attention. For instance, the fertilizing power of volcanic ash, using several types of bats to check correlations to batting average, and experimenting with liquids that would make colors wear off an object more quickly all stood out as unique.

Among those 125 projects, Anderson and Molyneaux's work with stain removal caught the judge's eye. The duo not only received Second Place in Team Projects for Sixth Grade Physical Science but also won a Medicine and Health Merit Award.

Anderson and Molyneaux additionally earned a Gold Participation Certificate. For his Potato Light Battery experiment, Powell received a Silver Participation Certificate, and Van Voast carried away a Bronze Participation Certificate for her research on lungs.

About her young scientists, Mrs. Noel stated: "I'm so proud of all the students who participated in the science fair this year, but I am especially proud of Cali Van Voast, Garrisen Powell, Sasha Anderson, and Rian Molyneaux for stepping out of their comfort zone and going to the next level of competition."