Daisy Torres, a fourth-grader at Deanna Davenport Elementary School, explains her life science project, “Banana Gas,” to judges Sgt. 1st. Class Tulula Barber, an Equal Opportunity representative at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, and Hilda Guzman, a teacher’s aide. Photo by Julia Yubeta.
WBAMC staff judge elementary school science fair
Julia Yubeta, WBAMC Public Affairs
Seven staff members from William Beaumont Army Medical Center served as bilingual judges at a science fair held Jan. 30 at Deanna Davenport Elementary School in Canutillo Independent School District.
Virginia Fiske, gifted and advanced academics teacher at Deanna Davenport, coordinated the event. Seeking bilingual judges, she requested Partners in Education assistance from the School Liaison Office at Child and Youth Services here.
“Although this school does not have many military children enrolled, we seek participation from the military community at school events such as this,” said Fiske. “Our children enjoy interacting with the Soldiers and civilians from Fort Bliss, and they serve as excellent role models.”
The science fair was open to children in kindergarten through fifth grades. Participation was voluntary, with the exception of the fifth graders, who were required to submit a science project to prepare them for higher-level science classes. The children were required to use the scientific method for their project. This method consists of six steps: question, research, hypothesis, experiment, results and conclusion. The categories available to the students for their project were life science, engineering, earth science, chemistry and physical science.
Entering the cafeteria, the judges saw rows and rows of colorful poster boards set up on the long tables. More than 120 science projects were ready to be judged. The judges were paired up and asked to rate the projects on a prepared scale. The students were able to present their projects in either Spanish or English.
“We want to encourage our students’ interest in the field of science,” said Jose Najera, second-grade teacher. “Some of the projects will be a demonstration, but by the fifth grade we want our students to be able to conduct a scientific experiment.”
Vanessa Hernandez, a fifth-grader, has participated in the science fair for several years.
“My interest in science is because I am always wondering what makes things happen, and this makes me curious about a lot of stuff,” she said.
“I came up with the idea for my science project while watching my mom stir her coffee to dissolve the sugar,” added Jennifer Ramirez, fifth grader. “My science project studied dissolving sugar granules in different forms. To help us prepare, our class went on a field trip to the Northwest Center campus of El Paso Community College, to learn more about doing science projects.”
“I am impressed with the quality of these projects,” said Miguel Alvarado, industrial hygienist, Preventive Medicine, one of the volunteer judges. “These students have great ideas, ideas that sparked their curiosity. They were able to express their project so that I can understand it and in a manner that demonstrated their understanding.”