HPU Chem News
High Point University Hosts Piedmont Homeschool Science Fair
January 28, 2006
For the second consecutive year, the Department of Chemistry and Physical Science at High Point University hosted the Piedmont Homeschool Science Fair. More than 70 parents and children traveled from as far as Raleigh and Charlotte to attend the event. Thirty one projects were submitted by students from elementary to high school, more than doubling the number of projects from 2005.
Parents and children enjoyed a one-hour chemistry demonstration show by Dr. Charlie Warde. In response to the demo show, one parent commented, "We were in there for an hour, but we were so captivated it didn't seem that long." In the afternoon, as judges interviewed the participants, parents and children learned chemistry and physics through hands-on exhibits and demonstrations.
Dr. Missy McCorquodale, Dr. Aaron Titus, and students Steven Ferree, Shanathan Hanson, Will Harris, Anthony Imberi, and Jason Straw set up the chemistry and physics experiments and helped parents and children investigate topics in rotational motion, electronics, sound, optics, convection, and waves. They also turned pennies to "gold" (brass, actually), made slime (known simply to chemists as two cross-linked polymers), and learned the chemistry of disappearing ink.
Many of the participants in the science fair also attended an interactive lecture by Dr. Titus in November, 2005, on how to do a science fair project. Participants at that lecture worked through a number of experiments and activities to help them understand the essential elements of a successful science fair project.
Twelve students from this year's science fair are eligible to advance to the next level of competition, the Science Fair for Non-Public Schools, held at Greensboro Day School. Winners of that event compete at the NC Region 5 Science Fair at SciWorks in Winston-Salem and then at the NC State Science Fair in Raleigh.
Three first place projects in this year's science fair were ineligible to advance solely because the students did not live in Region 5. They attended the Piedmont Homeschool Science Fair because there was no science fair for homeschoolers in the region where they lived.
In the 2005 Piedmont Homeschool Science Fair, four students advanced to the Science Fair for Non-Public Schools. Three of those four went onto regionals, and one student, 8th grader Nicole Thomas, advanced all the way to the NC State Science Fair. Her project was entitled "Destructive Water in your Town."
The science fair and lecture are organized by Rose Bate, an electrical engineer and homeschool mom from Greensboro, NC.
Pictures
Video of Steven Ferree on the rotating stool of death.
|
