Fifty-five third through fifth grade students from Locust Valley Intermediate School showcased their science skills during the building’s annual science fair on March 2.
During the event, the students presented their experiments to their parents, teachers and student judges from the high school.
Experiments ranged from creating potato batteries and volcanos to solar powered toy cars, coastal erosion and dioramas. Students spent weeks testing their hypotheses and constructing visual presentations of their methods.
Third graders James Barba, Christian McGlone and Luke Sullivan were named the grade level’s winners for their group research on how stalactites are formed. They created their own with clay in a diorama for the science fair.
Liam Benazzi and Logan Keaveney finished in first place in fourth grade with their investigation into how penguins stay warm and dry. On the night of the fair, the judges, parents and classmates put their hand under blubber made out of Crisco and put ice over the blubber to show how warm it keeps them.
Aasher Gill won first prize in fifth grade for his investigation into whether video games are addicting. Gill put out a survey to friends and family and collected data from the Palo Alto Research Center. He said that 40% of respondents were unable to stop playing for long periods of time.