Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn hosts annual schoolwide science fair

Scientific experiments and research projects were shared with classmates, parents and guests and displayed inside the John Lockwood Auditorium Theatre as students at Adelphi Academy of Brooklyn put the scientific method into practice for the academy’s annual Schoolwide Science Fair on Wednesday, May 6.

Among the highlights at the fair was the pre-kindergarten project, which studied how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Students Noelia Fabian, Leena Hasan-Hafez and Alesiandra Nikezi worked together on the project.

Third-grader Zoe Denmark was happy to show off her project, titled “Algae – The Good, the Bad and the Sushi.” She tested whether algae could grow differently in different types of water.

Zoe’s classmate Samantha DeBrusk studied the effects of peppermint and chocolate on people’s reaction time and shared her results with her grandfather, geologist/gemologist Wayne DeBrusk, at the fair.

Fourth-grader Hazel Budker conducted an experiment to determine whether white candles burned faster than colored candles.

Sixth-grader Eric Furman and seventh-grader Alisher Khakimov chose to study video games for their projects. Eric studied whether playing video games had an effect on the brain’s ability to withstand pain, while Alisher studied whether gaming can become addictive.

Eric’s classmate Yousef Hasan-Hafez created custom parachutes to determine whether the shape of a parachute affects its speed. Alisher’s classmate Sadrax Michel studied peripheral vision.

Sixth-grader Isaac Beltre studied the effects of dry ice. Eighth-grader Anthony Iglesias studied the cooling effects of evaporation.

All the young scientists presented their findings to science teacher and resident Adelphi scientist Jeffrey Cavorley and several judges throughout the day. Awards for first, second and third place will be awarded for the most creative projects in each grade level (Lower, Middle and Upper School) at the academy’s upcoming Student Awards Banquet on June 3.

Cavorley said, “Students in grades Pre-K through 12 displayed and presented on a wide variety of scientific subjects, from the creation of balloon-powered cars to the manufacturing of bio diesel to citizen science projects, in which raw data from famous space telescopes was processed for the first time by students.”

“The annual Schoolwide Science Fair is an important event at Adelphi,” said Head of School Iphigenia Romanos. “Students work on their projects for many hours, under the guidance of Mr. Cavorley, who encourages them to think outside of the box and ask interesting questions with their hypotheses.  Each year, the projects get more and more interesting and original, which is a testament both to the critical thinking of our bright young students and to Adelphi’s strong math/science department.”