By Francesca Toews
Mashpee Middle High School held its much anticipated Science and Engineering Fair awards ceremony over zoom, on friday. With Mr. Hoppensteadt and Mrs. Soares making the fair a reality amidst these discomforting times, Mrs. Soares acting as the Science Fair Advisor and Mr. Hoppensteadt Coordinator, the students and teachers involved have had to face many new challenges this year.
This year, out of twenty-six entries, two groups took first place with one being “Light Propagation: Particle Wave Duality” by Nathan and Sean Ware, and the other “How Does the Appearance of Food Affect People's Perception of It?” by Samantha Kersey, Colin Spencer, and Owen Balfour.
Mashpee Middle High School held its much anticipated Science and Engineering Fair awards ceremony over zoom, on friday. With Mr. Hoppensteadt and Mrs. Soares making the fair a reality amidst these discomforting times, Mrs. Soares acting as the Science Fair Advisor and Mr. Hoppensteadt Coordinator, the students and teachers involved have had to face many new challenges this year.
This year, out of twenty-six entries, two groups took first place with one being “Light Propagation: Particle Wave Duality” by Nathan and Sean Ware, and the other “How Does the Appearance of Food Affect People's Perception of It?” by Samantha Kersey, Colin Spencer, and Owen Balfour.
An abundance of students have had to conduct their projects with borrowed instruments, in the comfort of their own home, making this year a bit of an experiment in of itself. While this new method has brought many challenges, it has also allowed many students to be more independent with their research and branch out from the typical classroom setting.
Mrs. Soares has expressed her pride in the level of participation and dedication exhibited by students who have played a part in this year's fair, stating “I have been so impressed with students who are participating in the science fair this year. Judges have also expressed that they are very impressed with the participation level, especially considering we are in the middle of a pandemic”.
Cheyenne Hendricks and Skyla Rimple, took second place with “Is it the Caffeine That Induces Plant Growth in Coffee?”
And in third “Which Leading Brand of Whitening Mouthwash is Most Effective” by Abby McGrory and Alyson Lihzis.
Other exceptional projects include “The Effects of pH on Plant Growth” by Sydney Puchol and Sean Smith, “Does Light Affect the Rate of Decay in Beans” by Evelyn Provencher and Isabella Eagan, and “Do Words Affect Plant Germination Rates?” by Taylor Lacava and Olivia Duque.
The Mashpee Middle High School Science and Engineering Fair has repeatedly acted as an accurate representation of Mashpee’s love for knowledge and curious nature, and despite the unique challenges faced by students, this year is no exception.