By Lori BODNAR

Two hundred students participated in the Mountain Avenue Elementary School (MAES) 14^th annual PTA Science Fun Fair. Approximately 160 students completed 125 science projects (some worked in teams) and 40 sixth-grade students competed in “The Great Paper Roller Coaster Challenge.”

The goal of the sixth grade engineering build was to work in teams to create a roller coaster from cardstock paper to maintain a marble rolling for the longest time. Besides first place and runner-up for the longest coaster time, prizes were given for creativity with the best theme.

The MAES Science Fun Fair was open to all grades, from transitional kindergarten through sixth grade. Students could work individually or in teams and could receive help if needed from family or friends, since projects were not judged at the elementary fair.

The theme of the science fair was “Science is Among Us” that promoted the idea that science is everywhere. The science fair co-chairs were Jackie Bodnar and Meena Arunachalum.

The fair was held during Science Week, Jan. 24-28. Each day the entire school answered a science question, such as, “What color is the sunset on Mars?” Students presented their projects to their classmates and teacher; in addition all science projects were displayed in the auditorium for all classes to file past.

On Friday, Jan. 28 a recognition family night was held virtually when all 200 student names, project names and pictures were shown to the audience. The students also made videos of their science projects for family and friends to view.

During family night, Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) Robotics Team 589 joined the Zoom meeting live to show the robots and engineering build room at the high school. Members of the high school team who explained the process of building a robot include Bethany Lai, Renee Limonadi and Chloe Schroeder. The robotics club school advisor is Lyn Repath-Martos.

In addition, the CVHS Chemistry Club joined the family night fun by leading science demonstrations on how to make slime, oobleck and lava lamps and blew up a balloon using the chemical reaction caused by combining baking soda and vinegar. The CVHS Chemistry Club advisor is Julie Patton, and the students who lead activities were club co-presidents Seon Jae Yoon and Matthew Jang and secretary Nara Sirakian, as well as experiment coordinators Hyunwoong Yang and Ethan Lee.

“The Mountain Avenue Science Fun Fair is a fabulous PTA event that partners academic content, student engagement and joy of learning,” said Mountain Avenue Principal Jaclyn Scott. “Students love to complete hands-on science experiments and the science fair gives them this opportunity. The student projects this year were amazing and so creative! I thank our dedicated PTA co-chairs of this event.”

The students covered a variety of topics with their projects. Alex Gharibian, Chris Gharibian and Trevor Kim presented a science project titled “Do all white flowers absorb colored dye?”

“We tested the hypothesis that not all flowers would change color but after the experiment, the hypothesis was proved wrong,” said Alex Gharibian.

Chris Gharibian added, “I remembered watching a science video clip about flowers changing color and wanted to see first-hand if it was true. This was a lot of fun to do; we already have ideas for next year’s science project.”

Fifth graders Zachary Yang and Sutton Roosa completed a science project titled “How Glow Sticks Work.”

“Our project is about the parts inside [a glow stick] and how the glow stick works,” said Zachary. “Sutton came up with the idea of glow sticks. It sounded interesting.”

First grader Audrey Khachian completed a science project titled “How to Make a Homemade Magnet.”

“My project was about how to make a magnet using a battery, copper wire, nail and paper clips,” explained Audrey. “My dad watched a few videos and gave me some options and I chose to do the magnet project with his help.”

This year was the first time first grader Isla Avanessian participated in the science fair. Isla said, “My project was called ‘Robot Town’ because the robot I built goes around town helping take [out] the trash or deliver groceries, and it helps with pollution, too. I always wanted to build a robot, and I wanted to help my community at the same time. I really enjoyed building my robot because I got to do it with my family. My sister Luna and I still play with it at home.”

Second grader Roberto Ramos-Arce also participated in the science fair for the first time. He completed a science project titled “The Pascal Law in Basic Robotics Exemplified in Hydraulic Crane.”

“My project was about hydraulic cranes that can be moved by pressure of fluids,” said Roberto. “I am interested in robotics and I love to build. Someday I want to teach robotics.”

Kindergartner Abraham Ramos-Arce was one of the youngest participants in the science fair. His project was titled “The Solar System.”

“I loved the solar system since I was little,” he said. “Someday I will go up in the sky and discover new things.”

Other projects included “Awesome Atoms!” which showed the basic structure of an atom, “The Solar Oven,” which was a cardboard insulated box created to use the sun’s energy to cook, and “Capillary Action.”

“Capillary Action is the ability of liquid to flow upwards in narrow spaces without assistance,” explained Nirvaan. “I was curious to know how plants get water up to their leaves. I initially thought plants suck water up like we do with straws, but while working on my project I learned that capillary action causes water to go up through the plant’s stem.”

An especially fun project was one by second grader Cole Johnson titled “Milk & Cookies: Sink or Float?”

“We tested the buoyancy of four different kinds of cookies (Nilla wafers, Chips Ahoy, Nutter Butters and Oreos) in the same amount of milk, said Cole. “The inspiration for our project was to figure out new information about some of our favorite treats. We came up with the idea through an internet search on fun projects for second graders. We had fun doing our project this year!”

Meena Arunachalum, science fair co-chair, was particularly pleased by the level of participation and quality of projects.

“I have been a co-chair for four years. I volunteer for science fair because I want to give back to Mountain Avenue School, GUSD and my community where my three boys are studying. I also can motivate kids to get involved in science, which is one of my passions,” Arunachalum said. “The varied topics students chose to work on are so creative, impactful and very detailed-oriented. Every year I am amazed and learn so many new things when reviewing student’s projects.”