Lewiston High Science Fair features some 450 student projects

The third annual Lewiston High School Science Fair takes place from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 9 in the high school gymnasium, 156 East Ave. Presented in partnership with the Bates College Center for Service-Learning, the fair features nearly 450 projects created during the school year by students in grades 9 through 12.

The projects are eligible for medals and cash awards bestowed for best-of-fair and first-place through third-place prizes in each of three grade divisions — 9th, 10th and upper-class.

Project topics in past fairs have ranged from psychology to botany to meteorology. Last year’s winners included students studying the flame retardance of common household materials, the nature of dreams, the relationship between temperature and wind speed, and the effects of nutrition on blood.

“Science-fair projects give kids their first experience in real science,” says Mike Hutchins, head of the high school science department. The fair also addresses key indicators in the State of Maine Learning Results.

New this year are the upper-class grade division, the sponsorship of prizes by businesses and organizations, and the opening of the fair to elementary school students. Elementary school classes will visit the high school to view the projects during the fair.

The Lewiston High School Science Fair is made possible in part by a partnership with the Bates Center for Service-Learning. The fair “is a wonderful opportunity for Bates to share its resources and for its students to learn more about the community,” says Sue Martin, assistant director of the center.

Last year’s fair involved more than 60 Bates faculty, staff and students who spent an afternoon judging the projects. The college also supports the fair through a Bates Science Education Outreach Grant funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.