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Show Fair brings out mad scientists at Park City High School fn by an (halal Ninth-grader Joel Chaffee bel one of his teachers he could make electricity out of sand. Fortunately for the teacher it was a gentlemen's bet, because Chaffee is very close to proving his claim. He turned the bet into a science fair project and is putting the finishing touches on the experimental design this week. Chaffee's sand-generator will be one of 50 original scientific displays at the Park City High School Science Fair this Wednesday. The projects under construction this week test specific scientific principles in a variety of disciplines including chemistry, biology, physics and psychology, said high school science teacher Linda Preston. "And they are some of the most creative science fair projects I've ever seen," she added. Amy Belk, for instance, has devised a way to test the aerodynamics of penguins. lacking a live subject, she has carved a prototype and plans to submerge it in a tank of water. Belk said she will create a flow through the tank and inject dyes into the water so she can study the way it flows around the model. Preston said the' projects give students a chance to develop "true scientific skills" and .to "learn by doing." But will it float? Amy Belk prepares to test the aerodynamics of this model penguin at this week's high School Science fair. photo by Nan Chalat " Actually they get a lot more out of it than they realize. They leam how to communicate, how to take photographs, how to use other kinds of equipment and how to make graphs, It is a valuable experience," Preston said. The students will assemble their projects in the high school audi torium Wednesday morning, where from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. they will be subjected to the scrutiny of six judges from the University of Utah College of Science. After school there will be an open house beginning at 7 p.m. witji an awards ceremony at 8 p.m. All parents and interested members of the community are welcome to attend. |