Three Fairs In One

NOEL SCHOOLS HOLD FAIRS FOR BOOKS, SCIENCE, ART

RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Susie Eh looks at items at the book fair at Noel Elementary. The school also recently had a science fair and an art fair.

RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Susie Eh looks at items at the book fair at Noel Elementary. The school also recently had a science fair and an art fair.

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Noel Elementary School and Junior High School's recent book, science and art fair was the first time for all three fairs to be held at once.

Librarian Sheila Owens said the purpose of the book fair was to put books in the hands of students. Book fair occurs twice -- once in the spring, the other in the fall. The spring event is buy one get one free, so that students have books for the summer, she said.

"Scholastic is really good about sending us value-priced items and marked down items so they're affordable," she said. She noted a lot of the students have never been to a real book store. "It's nice that they're able to shop a book store in their school. Plus shopping is a life skill. They're trying to round their numbers up to see if they have enough money."

Eighth-grade science teacher Levi Boettler had some of his students share their projects for the science fair in advance of the event.

Melisa Rubi and Melvin Ordonez did a project on how different types of water help plants grow. They tested distilled water, tap water and spring water. The plants each had the same amount of sunlight, soil and water. Rubi said tap water grew the tallest plants over the course of three weeks in the classroom setting.

Maria Rosales and Christian Medina did an experiment on the affect of fertilizers. They tested plants with organic fertilizer, chemical fertilizer and no fertilizer. Each plant had the same amount of soil, water and sunlight. Their hypothesis was that the plants treated with organic fertilizer would grow the most, and it was proven correct. The chemical fertilizer killed the plant, Rosales added.

William Hawkins built a windmill with the help of Boettler. He wanted to see how many blades would optimize electrical output. He hypothesized three or four would be optimal. Four blades produced the most voltage at 0.85 volts, Hawkins said.

"It went down at five blades. We decided not to do six because it would just steadily decrease or we wouldn't be able to put more blades on it," Hawkins said. "Four blades have slightly better efficiency, but in an actual wind turbine, they would be more expensive to keep up."

Art teacher Emily Sumler was getting ready for the art fair. This was her first year to put together an art fair.

"This is the first year it's been done with the science fair and the book fair all together, but it's easier to get the families out on one date than at different times," she noted.

She said she was trying to get a piece of artwork from each student and to keep the same project for each grade. The art would be hung in the hallways for the event.

"I feel good about (their work). They've been doing a good job, working hard. Trying to get everything done in time for the art show," she said.

General News on 04/13/2017