Benner students conduct research projects for science fair

Fifth-grade students at Benner Elementary School worked throughout March and April with teacher Laura Covone and student teacher Taylor Yurek on a new science unit that allowed them to learn and implement the steps of the scientific process and then create a presentation at the science fair. Covone said it started with picking a topic from about 200 ideas, designing and going through with an experiment, and wrapping it up by putting together their presentations. This, she added, lead into the “big day” at the science fair held earlier this month. “Here the students not only got to display their presentations for their classmates and parents, but also with the teachers and students in kindergarten to fourth (grades),” Covone said. “Students, throughout this project, not only learned the steps of the scientific process, but helpful life skills, too.” Projects ranged from testing what types of ice cream melted the fastest to what liquids stains a shirt the worst. They learned how to present their findings and also how to adapt their communication skills based on which student they interacted with, Covone said. “The kids absolutely loved this project and were beyond excited to think about other scientific questions they could answer using the process they learned,” Covone said.