SJVC Lancaster’s Student Science Fair educated and entertained

Last month, Lancaster campus students taking Gen Ed Science drew some oohs and aahs from staff, faculty and students who caught their evening Science Fair in the Student Lounge.

Fifteen students from the Criminal Justice, Medical Office Administration, Medical Assisting, Pharmacy Technology, Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning &  Refrigeration, and Industrial Maintenance Tech programs put on quite a demonstration to an appreciative audience.

“The Science Fair was a fun way to assess the students’ knowledge of the scientific method and their ability to perform a science experiment and write up a lab report on their project,” says Anna Carlson, General Education instructor.

Each student had a booth at which they displayed their chosen experiment. The assignment was to develop a hypothesis, develop a process, monitor results and offer a scientific explanation for their results. Students were graded on their lab report, explanation and the presentation of their experiment.

The Science Fair also included a contest among the presenting students for the most successful experiment and presentation. Silvestre Galvan’s Dry Ice Bubble grabbed the award. Silvestre’s experiment involved water, dry ice and dish soap, and demonstrated how the gas that is released from dry ice, through a process called sublimation, can blow up a bubble, much like we do with a bottle of liquid bubbles and a wand.

“It felt good to receive my first Science Fair win,” says Silvestre. “I had fun through the whole experience, and I hope that everyone else did too.”

There were no unexplained outcomes and no pesky explosions to mar the event.

“The experiment wasn’t working well in the beginning, and I learned that you have to cover the whole piece of ice with water to get good results,” says Silvestre. “Through this experiment, I learned that dry ice skips the melting phase and goes straight to the gaseous phase, which is called sublimation. Another thing I learned is how cold dry ice can actually be!”

“It felt like it was a very big success and everyone was excited to see how everything turned out in the end,” says Anna. “We were very impressed by what the students had done.”

No fire trucks were necessary.