Marysville students show their science smarts
Published 11:43 pm Tuesday, February 24, 2009
MARYSVILLE — Goldfish, soda bottle terrariums and at least a dozen baking soda volcanoes were on display at Marysville Middle School on Monday for the annual science fair.
Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students spent weeks building projects that were displayed for parents and teachers. At the school, no ribbons were awarded, but students earned credit for participating.
Here are a few projects:
Marshmallow Catapult
Students: Seventh-graders Brandon Stickels, Billy Appel and Jonathan and Christopher Cole
About the project: The boys built a wooden catapult that shoots marshmallows several feet through the air. They worked together to design the catapult, and consulted Web sites when they encountered problems. The catapult features wheels, a PVC pipe to wind string around and hold the catapult in place, and an old kitchen strainer that holds the marshmallows as they are launched.
Eggs in a Bottle
Students: Seventh-graders Jeremy Williams, Dante Fields and Kasey Kushner
About the project: The students put newspaper at the bottom of a flask and lit it on fire. They set a hardboiled egg on top of the flask to see if the egg would fall through the opening. “There’s no oxygen getting through so it tries to suck everything down to get air through,” Jeremy explained. It worked, sometimes. Other times the fire wouldn’t stay lit and the egg didn’t slide through the flask.
Bunny Trail
Student: Seventh-grader Elizabeth Booth
About the project: Elizabeth built a wooden maze for her 3-month-old rabbit, Guinevere. Elizabeth put Guinevere in the maze with different kinds of food to see if the food affected the bunny’s behavior. She tried hay, rabbit pellets, lettuce, carrots and bunny treats. Guinevere’s reaction was always the same. She laid down and relaxed. “She was too stubborn,” Elizabeth said. “I figured out why they have the mice maze, because the rabbits will just lay down.”
Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.
