Palmer Elementary Hosts Science Spectacular

Parents and kids alike gazed at a variety of solar systems, launched catapults, wrinkled their noses at homegrown mold and bacteria and learned the intricacies of making ice cream Wednesday evening at Palmer Elementary School’s annual “Science Spectacular.”

Marcella Cardone, a member of the organizing committee for the PTA-sponsored event, said more than 190 students in kindergarten through fourth grade participated in making 184 projects, with titles including “Blow it Up! Watch it Fall!” “A Debate with Weight,” “We All Scream for Ice Cream” and “Emily’s Worm Farm.”

Students clad in black and green science fair t-shirts emblazoned on the back with bright yellow “Caution: Scientist at Work” signs proudly showed off and explained their projects and checked out those of their friends.

Especially popular were a miniature robot that can shoot a ball at a target, a working wind turbine, a “tornado in a bottle” and several catapults.

Most ubiquitous were homemade lava lamps and batteries powered by potatoes, oranges and lemons.

Melissa Perhamus, another member of the organizing committee and the mother of three children ranging in age from 6 to 16, kept an eye on her first-grader and his project—and gladly extolled the virtues of hands-on science in elementary school.

“Science fairs at this level are extremely important because kids can explore something that is interesting to them that they wouldn’t be able to explore in the classroom,” she said. “Having to come up with their own idea and bring it all the way through the steps to a visual presentation brings them confidence and a greater knowledge of the subject.”