Science Fair: Introduction

If you had attended the Girls Section Science Fair, on Thursday, March 17, 2011, I think you’ll agree when I say it was at it’s best this year. From a giant solar system backdrop encompassing the back wall of the gymnasium, to the four main events which highlighted the day: the exotic petting farm, the university demos, the fire truck, and the grades 7—10 science fair projects and experiments, the fair was truly an exhilarating , learning, and most of all, enjoyable experience for people of all interests.

“It felt like a fair!” said Nadine Ghandour, grade 12, who also stated that previously Science Fairs didn’t have the same fun “feel" that today had.

Before the world even knew the Science Fair was rolling round, a number of students were working long and hard, during classes, after school and on the Science Fair day, whose mental, physical and financial support made the Science Fair as successful as it was. Give it up for… THE SCIENCE COMMITTEE!

Aisha Emara 10W

Alia Abdullah 10I

Mariam Massri 10W

Mona Ackholm 10I

Nasra Mousa 10W

Rayya Al-Waleed 10W

Sumaiya Kassam 10W

A special thank you to Bashayer Al-Mazmi, 10W, who had helped out on the Fair day!

Another tremendous thank you to the teachers involved:

Ms Anita Varghese

Ms Samira Azam

Ms Letha Cheriyan

Ms Najwa

I must say, the BIGGEST thank you of them all goes to Ms Surita Burman, whose continuous dedication, hard work and effort made Wesgreen Intl School’s Science Fair another great success! Also, a tremendous thank you to Ms Raj Bhasin for her continuous support throughout not only the Science Fair, but all other school activities.

A lot of effort by many different people were put into creating the Solar System backdrop. 

Solar System Backdrop Acknowledgements:

Ms Surita Burman

Ms Najwa

Mr Andy Cheung

Ms Tracy Lineham

Mr Nabil Hossenally

Ms Annu Burman

Mr Marinus Wilcox

Ms Cheryl Ingeberstien

Mr Saeed

Aysha Al Jabr 10I

Maryam Mahboob 10W

Science Fair: Sharjah Police and Fire Brigade

On the 17th of March there were two very interesting visitors. One was the Sharjah Police and the other was the Sharjah fire brigade. They each brought something interesting to show us.

The police brought a van filled with equipment that they use. They used this rough-edged mat and then asked for two volunteers to try it out, they both stood on top of it and he started pumping air into it , eventually it rose up higher each time he pumped air into it , the two girls were amazed of how the mat actually pushed them up off the floor.

The fire brigade brought a huge fire engine and it was filled with all the equipment like the fire hose, the ladder etc. They showed us what they wear and how to use a fire hose. And to do that they had to try it out so one of the firefighters took the hose and started splashing it everywhere, for us it was like sitting beneath the Dubai Mall fountain!

There were so many laughs and it was very exciting but it all had to come to an end when they finished showing us everything and had to leave! I hope there will be many more days like this and they visit again!

-Ola Sherif 5W

Science Fair: Posh Paws Petting Farm

I think the petting farm was my personal favorite on the Science Fair Day. Anyone who knows me knows I love animals. After previously trying for a trip to the place (Posh Paws - which did not work out) and then begging permission for them to visit - they finally did! It was great they came over to the school, all the kids had loads of fun seeing the animals they brought in.

The Science Fair was heaps of fun, we saw many kinds of animals, including a dog, a cat, two rabbits, two roosters, a huge turtle, a goat, a ferret and a guinea pig.

We got to pet some of the animals, It was amazing seeing such animals in a school! We’ve never had animals to see and pet in school before!

The animals were really cute. The cat was white with orange stripes, the dog’s fur  was cream colored and the guinea pig was black and white. These were my three favorite animals.

I really enjoyed seeing all of them. They all came from an non-profit organization called Posh Paws. They are actually a kennel and cattery but have a section for keeping unwanted animals in their farm. I really wish to see them again!

-Maihan Mahboob 5W

Betty, the golden Cocker Spaniel. She won the hearts of everyone!

Posh Paws - Kennel & Cattery (and Petting Farm)

This was one hyper, slippery ferret.

This one mimicked what you said.

Weird chicken with an even weirder head. Never seen one like it.

HAMSTER!

The person who was trying to feed this cat carrots wasn't kidding.

A scampering little billy goat.

Science Fair: Students Exhibiting their Science Projects

Grades 7-10 Science Projects and Experiments


If you wanted to participate in this years science fair, you needed to have worked very hard. All of us who were interested in participating had to write out a plan with our project outline and materials we needed from the school, then give it to the teacher designated to each science - Biology, Chemistry or Physics; some of us had more than one experiment and therefore had to write out multiple plans for our experiments. Thankfully I chose to do only one, and that alone was exhausting.

Once our teachers gave us the OK on our plans we had to test out our experiment if our projects included one, and show our teacher our findings. After recording our findings we had to begin making our posters, which was in my opinion the hardest part since we still had normal schoolwork to keep up with and had to use any free time we had to make sure we had enough displays and posters to make our stalls stand out.

After ordering all our needed equipment from Ms Najwa weeks in advance, we gathered all our needed equipment from her a day in advance and spent our breaks setting up everything for the big day.

On the day of the science fair everything was hectic, of course. The grade nines and tens were set up on one side of the gym and the grade sevens and eights on the other side; other students who did not participate filed in one after another in grade-wise and we barely had time to take a sip of water. Then the long awaited judges came in the fourth lesson to judge us. Dr Al Ali from AUS and Mr Deeb Abdullah were the grade 7 and 8 judges, Dr Al Ali also judged the grade 9 and 10s, as well as Ms Varghese and Pr Omar Adwan, also from AUS. They all had pieces of paper specific to each stall and marked us on different parts of our projects from how we presented it to how original it was. 

In the last lesson a play was performed by the grade nines, after the winners announced.

Congratulations to all the winners and a very big thanks to all the teachers and all of the Science Fair Committee—we would never have been able to do it without you!

-Sarah Zoubi 9I

The annual Science Fair was held on the 17th of March, 2011, and was nothing less than perfect. With our creative and young future scientists, the science fair was a greater success than usual, with diverse experiments such as ‘Cup of Lava’, a hovercraft, ‘Types of Aspirin’, ‘Extraction of DNA from a Strawberry’ and lots more.

The Science Fair also held a unique variety of research projects, such as, ‘How Music Affects Homework’, ‘How Caffeine Affects Typing’ (this was mine) and ‘How Age Affects Memory’ to name a few. There was a poster competition  between grade 5 and 6. These were mini projects created by these youngsters and were displayed for the work  be judged. There were some very creative and informative projects which really did give many of us an addition to our knowledge despite being made by younger children.

Also, there was a separate category for grade 7, and another for grade 8. In each set of categories, there was a great spark of creativity and a whole lot of competition, only a winner and a runner-up being awarded in each grade.

Then there was the bomb of the day. The category of grades 9 and 10. There were such creative, inventive and original projects and experiments that everyone was amazed and choosing the winners were very tough. The experiments and projects ranged from ‘how listening to Mozart’s music can affect short term memory’ to a ’live  dissection’  which won 2nd place.

Overall, the science fair 2011 was a great experience for all participants and an amazing exhibit put with the help of science teachers and the grade 10 Science Committee for the audience and judges.

-Tuba Ahmed 9S

March 1, 2011

We grouped and took all (near) 50 girls outside today to plant seeds in pots. Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures, and it probably wasn't too much of a bad thing either becuase Aysha and I where covered in fertilser from pouring it into pots. After everyone planted their seeds, we took the pots by the reception entrance outside to keep - one day growing and hopefully we'd be able to create our vision of a 'Wesgreen Greenhouse'.

Although everything went well and by the end of the day we had over a dozen pots full of soil and seeds waiting to grow outside, our effort was not to last long when we found out the next day that the gardner disposed of the pots and used the fertilser for the other school plants outside.

And so, the WIS greenhouse dream went *poof* into the air, just like that.