After months of preparing, our sixth-grade students were able to show off their scientific independent research projects at our first annual Sixth-Grade Science Expo on Friday, February 27th.

The expo project encouraged our students to research topics of science and engineering that most interest them in a guided, step-by-step process. Students recorded their methodologies, research notes, trial outcomes, and logged their progress in an engineering design journal that fosters the engineering design cycle, an iterative process used to help students organize ways to solve problems.

Here are some direct reflections from some our students about their science expo experience:

"The science expo was fun. Everyone had good questions for me and my partner, and the scientists had good feedback for our project."

"The sixth-grade science expo was a new and fun experience for me."

"The science expo was an electrified experience that helped me and my partner prepare for high school and college projects."

"My partner and I got to learn about science in a cool and unique way. I am really happy that my mom got to be there as a judge. It was a great experience and I am glad I have been a part of it."

"My science expo experience last night was amazing. It was very nice being able to explain our experiment to the scientists. It felt like my experiment paid off when I was reading the words off of the tri-fold. Everyone seemed interested in what I was doing. Scientists asked me questions which helped me understand my science project better than I originally did. I felt very nervous at first, but as the night progressed, I felt more confident. I had a total of five adults come to look at my board. It was an awesome experience and I would love to do it again."

A big thank you to our visiting scientists, engineers, professors, and doctors who served on-site as judges, listening to our student presentations and providing invaluable feedback based on their vast knowledge in the STEM field. Along with Moravian Academy parents (Dr. Kamaal Anas, Sarah Baki, Bill Best, Dr. Anu Gandotra, Dr. Ganesh Skandan, and Dr. Darren Traub) and faculty members from all three of our school divisions (George Andriko, JoAnne Daniels, Dr. Gabby Dee, Paul Messman, Brad Pomeroy, and Wendy Sheetz '85), two alumni Dr. Christopher Banach ‘08 and Suzanne Peppel ‘88 also graciously agreed to participate in the event after receiving outreach from students on Moravian Connect, which helps connect our current students with alumni mentors in various career fields. We are extremely grateful to all of our visiting judges and look forward to future partnerships.

Questions explored by our students included:

• "What is the best method to extract strawberry DNA?" by Arman Guarasi '26 & Iosif Zavilevich '26
• "How do baking soda and vinegar reactions compare to elephant toothpaste reactions?" by Shaan Ailawadi '26 & Xavier Tongg Weiler '26
• "What is the best bridge design that can hold the most weight?" by Henrik Olesen '26 & Kyara Maeding '26
• "What is the difference between the quality of water between a store bought filter and a homemade filter?" by Misha Desai '26
• "Does the color of a terrarium affect the skin color of a lizard?" by Meryem Guzel '26
• "How are sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks formed? by Ana Dubacher '26 & Peyton Lauden '26
• "Can plants grow better in hydroponics?" by Ivelisse Jennette '26 & Eva Borsuk '26
• "What is the effect of caffeine on Daphnia Magna?" by Camden Luftig '26
• "Can plants grow better in hydroponics?" by Chloee Dahl '26
• "Can AI write as well as humans?" by  Ambrose Cole '26 & Max Williams '26
• "Which design of a lego building best withstands an earthquake?" by Shiv Patel '26 & Aveer Chada '26
• "Does ice affect the flight of a frisbee?" by Nikhil Skandan '26
• "Does too much water or food affect animals?" by Nicolas DeNora '26 & Sophie Wandall '26
• "How do different colors of light affect plant growth?" by Ria Gandotra '26
• "Can a computer detect an invasive species?" by Aadi Deshmukh '26
• "What type of soil best transports water?" by Nathaniel Schmidt '26
• "What is the dirtiest place in school?" by Charlotte Traub '26 & Kaitlyn Hummers '26
• "Which chemicals cause Coke and Mentos to make an explosion and why?" by Celine Baki '26 & Jo Zemsky '26
• "Which type of foam helps to prevent head injuries?" by Logan Hancik '26 & Kayn Jaffer '26
• "Which liquid can cause dry ice to sublimate faster?' by Daaniyah Anas '26
• "Can the parallax effect be used to predict distances of objects?" by Charlotte Best '26
• "Which type of stain can make organelles most visible?"by Finn Shelton '26 & Teighan Simmons '26
• "What is the best diet for dwarf hamsters?" by Mara Dubacher '26 & Taylor Lopez '26
• "Which ingredient makes Madeleine cookie dough rise most?" by Daniyal Jali '26 & Nick Rodney '26
• "What amount of salt can we use to make ice cream the fastest?" by Rigo Terry '26 & Caleb Greene '26
• "What is the optimal amount of sugar for yeast respiration?" by Tiffanie Maignan '26 & Peyton Falzone '26
• "Which type slime attracts the most bacteria?" by Shay Brown '26 & Arwen del Real Sobiech '26
• "Which substance helps to make ice melt faster?" by Alanna Henderson '26

Read this article and other content in the Spring 2020 Moravian Academy Journal.