Science made fun
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on January 29, 2012 1:50 AM
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News-Argus/MICHAEL BETTS
Nicholas Yelverton looks toward the judges' table during the Wayne County Public Schools Science Fair at Meadow Lane Elementary School on Saturday. Yelverton used Legos to test the stability of different forms.
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News-Argus/MICHAEL BETTS
Zyaire Webb, a second-grader at Meadow Lane Elementary, explains his science fair project on trajectory using a slingshot to Wayne County Public Schools Associate Superintendent Dr. Sandra McCullen during the Wayne County Public Schools Science Fair.
Nicholas Yelverton's project in Saturday's science fair was based on simple logic.
"I thought it would be fun," he said, "because I like to build with Legos."
The fifth-grader at Fremont STARS Elementary School explained his entry in the districtwide competition for Wayne County Public Schools.
"Height Versus Stability" was designed to prove his hypothesis -- "the taller the tower, the less stable it will be." It just made sense, he pointed out, "because it would have more weight added to it, so the top would come down."
His creation was created atop two binders held together by rubber bands.
"I put rubber balls at each corner, 5 centimeters from the edge," he explained. "Then I built four towers with different heights but had the same base of 1 1/4-inch and 2 1/2-inch."
It earned him third place in the division for grades 3-5.
Adam Grady, a fifth-grader at Mount Olive Middle, chose to prove that playing an exciting video game will cause a player's heart rate to increase.
"I grabbed a couple people and used the Wii Mario Kart," he said. "I found out that yes, the project, all the players' heart rates did increase while playing."
"In a Pickle" was the title of Caitlin Ulrich's entry. The sixth-grader at Mount Olive Middle used litmus paper to measure pH levels of different types of pickles.
She had participated in the event before but hadn't won, she said. Saturday, she walked away with a second-place ribbon in the middle school chemistry category.
Danny Johnson, a seventh-grader at Dillard Middle School, built a roller coaster out of foam pipe for his "Marbleous Coaster," to determine how much weight is required for the marble to successfully make a loop.
"I like building," he said. "The top kept coming off so we had to keep trying and trying and trying again."
He credited his mother, Vickye Richardson, with providing moral support as well as recording some of his data.
"I think it's exciting," she said of the event. "It's my first time being here."
Thirty students from across the county participated in the science fair.