TFS Students at their Scientific Best

On February 23rd, Grade 7 and Level I students from Toronto and Mississauga presented their science projects at the annual science fair. Taking over the Senior School gym for the day, the students, individually or in pairs, set up displays and related materials to explain their hypotheses, testing methods and results. Categorized by area – physics, chemistry, biology and environmental science – each project was evaluated by judges comprised of parents, alumni and Level V students.

 The Grade 7 projects included one that examined how plants react to various solutions, in order to “help us better understand the environment and what happens when acid rain corrupts the earth” said one student. Another experiment examined whether pathogenic bacteria could be found on students’ school ties. The unfortunate answer was yes. The experimenters, Kaitlin A. and Gaspard de V., recommended that students wash their ties more often.

Also in Grade 7, Aaron C. wowed the crowd with a robot he had built and programmed to play the piano – Mary had a Little Lamb, to be exact, while the team of Edward C. and Douglas C. evaluated the efficiency of wind turbines in producing electricity. Using a model wind turbine built out of K’nex and Popsicle sticks, they found that turning the blades to a 10° angle produced the most electricity.

On the Level I side of the gym, Derek C. showed how a household could save 7.2% in their electrical use and billing by unplugging various devices when turned off. On the matter of health, Annabelle G. and Henrietta L. investigated how many students who contracted H1N1 went on to receive the vaccine, versus those who did not contract the flu. Meanwhile, Shannon M. looked into the effect of mint and cinnamon on bacteria in the mouth. She found that cinnamon had little effect and that mint toothpaste worked best.