Hathaway Elementary 5th grade students were excited to share the results of their research and science experiments at the annual Hathaway Science Fair.

“Our 5th grade students have been working on their science fair projects for many months,” said 5th grade teacher, Samantha Persinger.  “They worked on how to write a quality experiment, then looked for ideas.  Many of the students changed their experiments throughout the year, based on whether they had a good scientific question with the ability to conduct the actual experiment.”

Student Brandon Zimmerman decided to make a fruit battery because he understands the importance of searching for different energy sources.  “And some of the crazy ideas might just end up being important,” he said.

The first listening experiment that student Kael Krabbenhoft conducted did not work exactly as he had expected.  He was trying to work with talking sounds but ended up discovering that varying amounts of light on a solar cell produced different sounds.  “After trials of the first project, he was able to create a new project based on what he discovered,” Persinger said.  “True scientific process!”

5th grade teacher Andrew Schlauch helped students to understand and navigate through the scientific process.  “He met with the kids 30 minutes a day as a science fair elective all year,” Persinger said.  “Mr. Schlauch spent that much time with them so they could figure things out on their own with his support.  He did an amazing job growing these science minds.

“Our 5th graders are more than ready for middle and high school science thanks to Mr. Schlauch,” Persinger said.