SHSID Science Fair 2015

The Science Fair: An Overview

SHSID hosted the Science Fair on June 3rd, 2015. The theme of the Science Fair this year was “technology, innovation, and environmental-friendliness”. This creative extravaganza attracted more than a hundred students and teachers from 9th to 11th Grade to share their ideas and work.

The combination of the given topic competition and the free creative work presentation provided students with a great opportunity to show their talents in science. For the given topic work, participants chose one of the three given topics: Physics, Chemistry, or Biology. During the 30 minutes, they had to complete their work with the given materials and make it through the test successfully. For the free creative work, participants needed to use waste materials to create a new product under the theme of “water and health”.

What Is Unique About Science Fair 2015?

The Science Fair 2015 was very unique, both in scale and in theme. Unlike previous science fairs, where small experiments were conducted in individual classrooms, this year’s fair was a school-wide competition where all students from 9th to 11th grade could participate. This change in format has led our Science Fair to become more influential to our students and encouraged more interaction between students during the project presentations.

Competition under the given topic and the free creative work has also provided our students with great opportunities to present their talents and scientific knowledge. Required to complete and present their projects in a given time and limited resources, the Science Fair challenged our students to demonstrate their problem-solving skills and time management in front of an audience. The free creative work gave our participants space for creativity to produce innovative inventions and helped to demonstrate to our students that science is not just the boring equations and diagrams we see in textbooks, but it is actually closely related to our hobbies and other interesting aspects of our daily lives.

Preparing For Science Fair 2015

Introducing a new type of science competition in our school was clearly not an easy process. According to Ms. Jessica Xie, the organizer of the Science Fair, the organization faced some difficulties because some students and teachers were unfamiliar with the new organization and were confused about the processes. Despite these obstacles, the primary motive to organize the Science Fair in the new way was to eliminate the stereotype that science competitions only belong to “the nerds.” “We wanted the Science Fair to be open to all students, not just students with good grades,” said Ms. Xie, “This is why we selected a relatively simple topic in which students can explore their passion about science.” After displaying promotional videos and posters to publicize the Science Fair, more than fifty students from all grades participated to share their passion for science with other students. “For next year, we will try to encourage more students of different grades and interests to join the Science Fair,” Ms. Xie added.

What Our Teachers and Students Think

Owing to the organizational efforts and our students’ passion for science, the Science Fair was received very well by our teachers and our students. “It was amazing,” said Mr. Liao Hui, a Biology teacher and a judge of the fair, “I was very busy but happy to see students’ innovation. The Science Fair was important because it enhances the students’ perspective toward the nature of science, which comes from life and is applied to life.” Our teachers all agreed that the Science Fair helped students realize their passion for science and strengthen lab skills and team spirit.

Our students were also very dedicated to their projects in the Science Fair. “The Science Fair provided students with a venue to show their ability of scientific research and experiment,” said Dave Kim, a participant. “It was fun to invent practical things that can be helpful in daily life.” Andrew Zhu, another participant of the fair, said that “it was quite difficult to be innovative while adhering to the requirements of reusing and recycling household items. We turned our house upside down and eventually found the materials we need.” Another participant Frank Lee said, “We invented drinkable gargle water, since most students don’t get to brush their teeth after lunch. Science Fair provides us a stage to let us apply knowledge in our life, which makes the Science Fair so special to students who participate in it.”

The Principal’s Perspective

Principal Ma of SHSID expressed much delight for our school providing our students with such great opportunities to present their scientific knowledge and ability to innovate. “Our students have many opportunities to think within individual subjects in the classroom, but they do not have so many opportunities to think about questions relevant to different subjects,” said Mr. Ma. “The Science Fair allows our students to cross the barriers between different subjects and integrate their knowledge into a project.” Moreover, the Science Fair aimed to provide a chance for students to learn cooperation through science projects and encourage them to get to know each other. Especially, students in Xianmian Building and Zhongxing Building seldom have the chance to exchange ideas about academics. The Science Fair has provided this opportunity for our students, for 11th grade students can demonstrate their broader scope of knowledge while 9th and 10th grade students can provide fresh, creative ideas.

As this was the first time SHSID has organized a school-wide science competition, Principal Ma told us that our school faced some difficulties while organizing the event. “Setting the adequate difficulty of the topic was hard at first, because a topic too difficult would scare away students who are passionate about science. Also, we had some difficulties buying necessary materials,” said Mr. Ma. “These problems were solved by our subject teachers and instructors.” With the combined effort of many dedicated teachers and students, the Science Fair was held successful, and it gave students many opportunities to present their skills and apply their knowledge in daily life. Unlike high-end competitions like ISEF, where there is limited space, the Science Fair allowed all students in our school who are interested in science to demonstrate their knowledge.

Regarding the students’ projects, Mr. Ma said, “I was very impressed by the students’ project. He finally added, “This year we had around twenty teams in the Science Fair, and I hope more students can participate and more students can come to enjoy the project presentations next year. I expect to see more new ideas in the future.”

Exploring What Science Really Is

The fair is not only a scientific competition, but also an exchange of ideas, collision of thinking, communication of knowledge, and interaction of enthusiasm. “I can’t imagine the power of science”, one student said. The audience of Chemistry magic screamed “that’s awesome”. Even a science teacher talked excitedly,” it provides a brand new world for me to think of science again”.

After the fierce competition, combined with the assessment from teachers and votes from students, the top three prizes, the creativity award and popularity award, were given. While only a few left with a trophy, everyone came out a winner just by solving problems, competing on the stage, and impressing every audience. SHSID is proud of you – all the potential scientists in the future. Thank you for guiding us through a wonderful world of science.

(Written by Min Ji Suh, Ms. Xie Junyu Picture by Ms. Dai Zhenzhen)