The Middle School Science Fair is an event held by both the middle school and high school at THS for the first time this year. The main aim of the science fair is for students to design their own experiment, and test it using the scientific method. During the science fair students were expected to write a research paper on their findings, create a poster describing their experiment and the process, which finally culminates in a fair where students present their ideas and results. Some experiment subjects this year included “creating the perfect cookie batter”, “testing whether HK water is drinkable”, and “creating safer variants to fireworks via flame tests” to name a few. 

The MS Science Fair took place on the 25th, and 28th of April for seventh grade and eighth grade respectively. Students spent an hour beforehand prepping their stations, and then spent the morning running their science fair. The Science Fair was located within the Black Box Theatre of the Grove. It is a recent event introduced to the Middle School and High School of The Harbour School. MS Science Teacher’s Ms Jenny Kim and Ms Rashmi Shroff hope to continue this event each year as a unit in the MS Curriculum. This year’s science fair has been going on for six weeks as part of a unit. 

The science fair was an overall success for both the seventh and eighth grade. Ella Choe, a student in grade 7 said that for her first time doing the science fair, “it was a really fun experience”. I myself also personally enjoyed the fair, and also enjoyed teaching my subject to other students. Kiran Esvaren, another student in grade 7 also agreed and stated that “as it allowed me to be more independent with researching and conducting experiments than in a typical science course”.  

During the science fair, parents and students from Grade 3 upwards were allowed to come visit and check out the different exhibits. Some chose to do a spoken presentation, while others decided to perform a procedure. Many exhibits were interactive, as some students invited volunteers to taste test perfect cookies, perform a blind test with tacos, and even test natural face masks. Nami Asuncion, a student from Grade 3 who attended the science fair said that “It was fun because there were different experiments and we got to try them out.” Her favourite experiment was the natural facial mask displayed in the eighth grade science fair because it was interactive and she got to try the two different ointments. 

There were many different experiments presented at the science fair including testing the effects of sugary sodas on blood sugar and pressure. Ella also said that her “exhibit was with Nicole and Valerie and was about how age could affect people's blood sugar and blood pressure. We did some basic background research on caffeine and its effect on the brain and body and we completed an experiment involving the use of Coca Cola and seeing how great the spike was for the children versus the adults.” Their experiments were among the most popular displayed during the science fair, as well as an experiment by a seventh grader which involved blindfolding volunteers and telling them to eat a tofu taco and a chicken taco as a comparison. Among the eighth graders, experiments included designing an electric wheelchair, testing the effects of different chemicals such as phosphate on fish, and even testing the effects of erosion on rocks. 

In retrospect, the science fair was an overall success with people having a good time learning about the different topics. Kiran Esvaran, a seventh grader, said that some challenges he faced with his experiment were that “I had to keep changing the type of animal I was experimenting with due to what was available in the shops and the MSC. This made me have to shorten the period of time my experiment would be conducted over, which was not ideal.” Besides that, most students agreed that it was a fun course and that they hope the science fair will be held again next year.