By Brigid Ehrmantraut

The annual Funhouse Commons Science Fair will be held this Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m. The Funhouse Commons will host exciting Science Projects presented by students of all ages. For the sixth year in a row, the fair will be offering $2,000 in scholarships to the top High School/Middle School projects. To download an application, click  here

Science Fair 11Cadence Kraayeveldt 005

Cadence Kraayeveldt powers up the ever popular giant bubble machine at the 2011 Science Fair

March is a busy month. Many people are finding themselves without much spare time on their hands, and on top of that seasonal colds are going around. However, this hasn’t stopped some hardworking students from preparing projects for the Funhouse’s annual Science Fair on March 24. This year’s theme? Science is a Blast! Explosions!

Two Orcas High School Juniors are taking this to heart. Despite repeated warnings from a slightly dubious Chemistry teacher, Garett Pietsch and Chase Drake are building a cannon. And firing it. How exactly? Well, you better come to the Science Fair to find out….

They are not the only members of local science classes to get involved. Some classes are offering extra credit for entering, others just for signing up. Potential subjects are as far ranging as ‘What happens when you drop pure sodium metal (Na) in water (H2O)?’ (a Chemistry student’s idea), ‘Does the color of your clothing affect your test performance?’ (a freshman in Biology), ‘How do you build solar cells?’ (an eighth grader), and ‘Just what is it about artificial robots and animation that creeps some people out?’

Well, that last one was supposed to be my project…. But like I said, March is a busy month. And my project partner caught pneumonia, so it might have to wait until next year to become fully realized.

But do not let this dissuade you; this year should see plenty of interesting entries. Especially in the upper age levels where first, second, and third place scholarships are available. This will be a welcome change from last year, when only four individuals at the high school level entered the annual Funhouse Commons’ competition. The theme last year was, “How Does It Work?”

Last year’s scholarship winners (in order of first to third) were:

  • Christopher Ghazel, who explored the mechanics of noise-cancelling headphones;
  • Brigid Ehrmantraut (yes, me), who demonstrated the advantages/disadvantages of social corporation through the Prisoner’s Dilemma;
  • Aidan Anderson, who researched and illustrated the principles of pocket warmers.

This year should be just as entertaining and educational, if not more so! And by stopping by you can see if, contrary to their teacher’s fears, Chase and Garett actually ended up with the same number of fingers they started with.

Call the Funhouse Commons at 376-7177 for further information.

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