Watch a video from the Montana Science FairThe 13-year-old Big Sky High School freshman was testing a new computer language to see if it performed as advertised. The language was designed to simulate real-world science experiments.
In a sense, then, Erickson was checking to see if the hundreds of projects displayed in the University of Montana's Adams Center could be compressed to a piece of software.
“Even in extreme settings where the mouse population is unstable, the program worked well,” Erickson said. “This test would have taken about 1,000 lines (of programming commands) in Visual Basic, and it only took 200 in this language. Schools could use this as a tool for teaching.”
For many of the 560 students attending the 53rd annual Montana Science Fair at UM, the event is a chance to show they know the rules of scientific inquiry. One student followed his hunting passion to test how well an arrow penetrated different materials. Another looked at how different recycled goods could be transformed into building insulation.
Jake McCarthy, an Anaconda eighth-grader, came with a test of altered baseball bats. He modified a clay pigeon launcher to swing a baseball bat, then observed how well additions of cork, rubber and steel improved the hitting power.
“I love baseball, so I thought it would be great to test something I really liked,” McCarthy said. “We checked the speeds with a radar gun. The rubber hit the farthest, but we could only swing at 37 mph. The results might be different with a faster swing.”
Others, like Erickson, were taking on questions typically left for college or industrial labs. Science Fair director Jesse Johnson said he was impressed by the continuing quality of research, considering how school budgets and resources have declined.
“It's amazing when you look at how many districts have consolidated,” Johnson said. “You have places like Chester-Joplin-Inverness, where the community is really behind the science fair.”
One example has come to work for Johnson: former Sunburst science fair participant Kallie Johannsen. Now a UM sophomore studying information systems management, Johannsen has made time to help coordinate this year's awards ceremony and judging schedules.
“Giving the presentations really helped me build my communication skills,” Johannsen said. “It's great to see all the work that really goes into it.”
Ennis High School teacher and science fair adviser Mellissa Newman said keeping those community backers interested was crucial to her students' success.
“We have nurses in the hospital labs who welcome our kids to come in with projects,” Newman said. “We've got retired Forest Service people, retired scientists who are happy to have our kids get their hands dirty. If the kids take a little initiative, there are lots of people there to help them.”
For the hundreds of middle-school competitors, the science fair is a proving ground for their inquiry and presentation skills. But at the high-school level, the rewards get concrete and lucrative. Dozens of scholarships will be handed out Tuesday at the awards ceremony. The grand award winners will have their way paid to the International Science and Engineering Fair on May 11-17 in Atlanta.
Reporter Rob Chaney can be reached at 523-5382 or at rchaney@missoulian.com.
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