The Duchesne annex was abuzz with students explaining the best way to remove salt water or why golf balls fly short. Once again the judges listened patiently at the Annual Middle School Science Fair held Tuesday, January 23. For the first time, the fair was conducted in the Annex instead of the Atrium, which worked well as the Annex has more space available to highlight the projects.
The sixth grade science class entered their research in six categories: Behavioral/Social Sciences, Chemistry, Medicine/Health, Zoology, Physics/Engineering and Botany/Microbiology. Special awards were given in the areas of: Most Earth-Friendly, Most Beneficial, Most Creative/Original, Most Attractive, and Best Use of the Scientific Method.
Science Fair is a long term process beginning in November guided by Judy Flusche, the sixth grade science teacher. Exxon Mobil presented a program titled "What Judges Want" in the Turntable room to begin the process. Each girl had to find a topic, research the topic, design and perform an experiment, and finally put all of the data together in the visual display board that is seen at the Fair itself. The girls do most of the work at school, learning skills in researching, writing, documenting data, and practicing "selling" their projects to the judges. The girls are so invested in their projects by the time Science Fair arrives, that their excitement and pride shines through to the judges. Winners of the Duchesne Science Fair are given the opportunity to compete at the Arch-diocesan Science Fair, to be held on February 11, 2012 at St. Peter the Apostle School.
The Fair was organized by Judy Flusche with assistance from science teacher Kathy Duquesnay. The teachers felt that this year there was a trend toward very creative and original projects with the physics/engineering category the most varied, although other categories had many really creative projects as well. "The overall quality of the projects was very advanced. The judges commented over and over at how difficult it was to judge as the projects were so well done across the board," said Mrs. Flusche.
The school received judging help from many current DASH parents, five ExxonMobil employees, and seven alumnae. The alums were: Thara Raghuthaman Bala '98, Mariana de Aldecoa Bueno '94, Lynette N. Crowse '90, Diane Donovan '71, Gabrielle R. Patout '94, Melanie Stein Rodgers '99, and Elizabeth Templeton '99. Many thanks to the ExxonMobil employees who were able to qualify DASH for a group grant.
