Students from eight schools found their inner scientists for the Carlton Trail Regional Science Fair on March 22 at St. Peter's College in Muenster.
Students from Bruno, Englefeld, Ituna, LeRoy, Middle Lake, Muenster, Strasbourg and Wakaw showcased their science projects during the all day event.
Shaye-Lynne and Capri Ebner, Grade 5 students from Bruno, presented their project, "Diving into Hydroponics," at the fair.
For their project, they decided to grow an ordinary house plant in water. They then compared the house plant to a bamboo stalk, which naturally grows in water.
They noticed that the house plant grew like the bamboo, with the roots reacting to the water the same way.
The two girls came up with their project in December.
"We were thinking of growing plants in juice, pop and water," said Shaye-Lynne.
After talking to their teacher about the project, they decided to just use water.
"We like plants and playing in water, so we thought hydroponics was interesting," said Shaye-Lynne.
Some of the projects required students to build a demonstration for their audience.
Ashley Demers and Kayla Pudrycki from Middle Lake did their science project on "Water Filtration."
Pudrycki and Demers came up with the idea for it on their own.
"Most projects are researched on the Internet," said Demers.
Not only did they want an original idea, they also wanted a project that would make a difference and help the environment.
"It's about filtering water from a washing machine," said Demers, in order to re-use it.
In order to filter the water, the girls had to build their own water filter out of gravel, sand and activated carbon.
They then took the dirty water from a washing machine to filter.
"The water is returned to water storage and used again," said Pudrycki.
Although the water is filtered and could be used around the house, the girls said it was not drinkable.
Two students from LeRoy, Stephanie Schoettler and Mackenzie Shaver, placed third overall in the science fair, with their project "Illusions... How do they work?"
In their demonstration, the girls had a participant watch a video.
After watching the video, the person was asked to look at a picture of birds.
"Basically, the result is the birds are moving," said Shaver.
The demonstration was an example of a physiological illusion.
The girls explained this type of illusion happens when the brain misinterprets the impulses send by the optic nerve.
The girls also researched other types of illusions and presented their findings at the science fair.
Not only did the girls enjoy the topic, it gave them the opportunity to learn something on their own.
"We like the challenge and wanted to see how it worked," said Schoettler.
"It was something we could learn about."
Schoettler and Shaver placed third overall in the fair.
Other award winners at the Carlton Trail Regional Science Fair were:
Saskatchewan Learning Award and first place overall: Jordana Gorrill from Strasbourg, "R U Paying Attention."
Sask Energy Special Achievement Award and second place overall: Kara Gelinas and Karleen de Hoop from Strasbourg, "We got our Tailgate Down."
Fourth place overall: Carter Frerichs and David Lacoursiere from Muenster, "Say Cheese."
Canadian Oceanographic and Meteorological Society: Carley Zentner and Kaitlyn Crossland from LeRoy, "Tsunami."
Saskatchewan Science Center Award (Gr. 6): Hannah Moellenbeck and Michael Carnago from Englefeld, "Mold on Cheese."
Sask. Outdoor Environment Education Assoc. (SOEEA) Award: Allison Doetzel from Bruno, "Positive and Negative Effects (Battery Recycling)."
Sask Forestry Association Award: Andrea Morton from Wakaw, "Can Genetically Modified Organisms Help the Environment."
Agriculture in the Classroom Award: Ashley Koob from Bruno, "Passion 4 the Farm - Grain Safety."
