The projects at last week’s Mancos Middle School Science Fair were diverse and awe-inspiring.
“I am always impressed with what students are able to do,” said Mancos sixth-grade science teacher Brady Archer.
Projects on display last Friday spanned from the practical to the uncanny. For example, one student set out to measure methane emissions from cows on a food lot versus an open range, while another student opted to calculate the aerodynamics of Batman’s cape.
Other projects examined the payload capabilities of a homemade drone, a new brake pad technology, electromagnetic propulsion, amount of bacteria found inside Wal-Mart and even an edible water bottle.
“I’m looking for something that students can’t just find on the Internet,” explained volunteer science fair judge and Colorado Parks and Wildlife official Cathy Brons.
One of five judges, Brons said she was most impressed with a young geologist who incorporated his science fair project into a family vacation over Thanksgiving.
“He compared the rocks in his own backyard to what he found in California,” Brons said. “It’s neat to see a student get excited about science.”
To help narrow a student’s scientific intrigue, middle school teacher Kelly Gregory explained that she utilized a flow chart to help students identify topics of interest. For example, students interested in building were pointed toward mechanical engineering issues, and students interested in living organisms were encouraged to explore biology, and so on.
“We start from there,” Gregory said, adding that students were allowed to conduct research via the Internet. “That background lets them formulate a hypothesis, which is key to any scientific endeavor.”
Gregory added that the science fair was invaluable to teaching students how to identify problems and reach solutions, skills that they’d need throughout their lifetimes.
Over the past decade, multiple Mancos middle school students have advanced to the state science fair. Gregory theorized that success, which could be replicated again this year, she said, was due to minimal opportunities in the rural community.
“Mancos is a town of 1,000 people,” Gregory said. “We don’t have malls and movie theaters.”
With few places to spend free time, Gregory said, Mancos students are more inventive, and that innovative spirit helped students to succeed with engineering projects, for example.
“The students are pretty creative,” she said.
Pointing to former Mancos student Easton LaChappelle, who advanced all the way to the White House Science Fair a few years ago and now is an entrepreneur in the field of robotics, Gregory said today’s students look up to him as a role model for what they can accomplish.
“We have one student that’s in awe of Easton and very much inspired by him,” Gregory said.
An attempt to reach LaChappelle for comment this week was unsuccessful.
“Easton travels the world and is extremely busy these days,” Gregory said.
tbaker@the-journal.com