WINNING PROJECT Katie Wade was the eighth grade’s top winner in the St. Joseph science fair. Courtesy of Rosemary Calvert
St. Joseph School in Knoxville held its St. Albert the Great Science Fair on Feb. 5. Led by middle school science teacher Rosemary Calvert, middle school students conducted individual science investigations throughout the fall semester and presented their research in front of a panel of judges.
Those judges included Dr. Al Hazari, Dr. Kristin Rearden, Dr. David Harper, and Dr. Suzanne Lenhart, all University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professors. Students were judged on their original research ideas, their research design, and their poster presentation.
First-, second-, and third-place winners were chosen from each of the middle school grades, and these students will participate in the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair at Thompson-Boling Arena in April.
Eighth-grade winners were Katie Wade, first place; Sophia Wilson, second place; and Kendal Bruner, third place. Seventh-grade winners were Ashlyn Man, first place; Katie Kidwell, second place; and Jason Houbre, third place. Sixth-grade winners were Walter Pickering, first place; Breanna Jeffries, second place; and Scott McClean, third place.
Students who were recognized for their efforts with honorable mention were eighth-graders Luke Smith and Katie Whittaker and seventh-graders Zach Trisler and Curt Brewer.
Students in grades pre-K through fifth also participated in St. Joseph School’s science fair. Fourth- and fifth-grade students, under the guidance of science teacher Katherine Colburn, conducted either group or individual projects. Grace Morgan won first prize, Kiersten Man second prize, and Caroline Hunse and Anna Hoang third prize.
Kindergarten through third grade conducted a class experiment or project and created a display reporting their use of the scientific method and their results.
Pre-kindergarten students created murals of four different biomes, and students chose an animal that lived in a particular biome, researched information about the animal, and then created either a drawing or three-dimensional representation of that animal, placing it in the appropriate biome. Pre-kindergarten and elementary science-fair projects were displayed throughout the school.
