Kate Griffin students excel at science fair
By By Georgia E. Frye / staff writer
April 24, 2003
Kris Sahu said it was a challenge to motivate his science classes to participate in the science fair but once he got them started, they did better than he could have imagined.
Timothy Johnson, 15, won second place at the state fair for his cardboard replica of a computer. He was the only student from Kate Griffin to place in the state competition.
Johnson's project consisted of cardboard, knitting needles and "personality cards."
He placed the data personality traits of his family onto eight cards and used the needles to sort the information, demonstrating how a computer's "brain" works. Johnson's creation also won third place at the regional fair and second place at the school fair.
After the Kate Griffin Junior High School science fair, 38 of Sahu's students qualified to compete in the regional science fair at Mississippi State University in Starkville on March 19.
Nine students then went on to the state fair at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg on March 30 and 31. There, students competed against others from all 82 counties in Mississippi.
Sahu said the students started their projects in November and completed them in January. They were judged by members of the community, including retired teachers, in February.
Projects ranged from testing the concentration of sugar in foods to investigating what happens when light is transmitted through different types of transparencies.
Amanda Gardner said her project to see if the senses of taste and smell are related was inspired by her habit of always smelling food before she eats it.
Gardner said she found that the senses were related and that when one sense is eliminated the others become more awake. She won first place at the regional fair for her project.
Students said they enjoyed the trips to Starkville and Hattiesburg almost as much as winning.
Jaleesa McWilliams, who won second place at the regional fair, said her favorite part of the trip was when "we got to go to the mall and go out to eat.
