On the way to Norwich University from The Renaissance School in Shelburne, none of the students expected their projects would garner major awards at the competition. The fifth and sixth graders were excited and nervous about presenting their work at the Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair held on Saturday, April 17; however, all six students won awards.

Joshua Wolfstein, Alex Duchac, Warren Ouellette, Henry Harder, Samuel Edwards-Kuhn, and Chester Barber all received awards for their work, even surpassing some projects at the high school level. Their projects were the result of more than two months of preparation, another three weeks for revision, continued testing, and some extra, after-school overtime.

Joshua Wolfstein was awarded a silver medal in last year’s state science fair. At the very beginning of this school year, he was already thinking about ideas for his science fair project, which was, "Burn, Burn, Burn: Comparing Wood and Grass Pellets." Learning in a school environment located on Shelburne Farms gave him the idea for testing the differences between wood and grass pellets. On a tour of the furnace that heats the Farm Barn, Joshua learned that the farm often uses different kinds of fuel to see which one is the most efficient and sustainable. Joshua received not only a Superior, Gold Medal, Award sponsored by the Vermont Principals’ Association, but also an NRG Systems Award for Best Project on Renewable Energy.

Alex Duchac, Henry Harder, and Warren Ouellette received silver medals for their projects on DNA, airplane wing designs, and "oobleck," a mixture typically made from corn starch and water. Samuel Edwards-Kuhn received an award from the Green Mountain Section of the American Chemical Society. His project investigated the gas, ethylene, that is given off by fruits as they ripen and involved finding the conditions under which various fruits would ripen most quickly. Chester Barber designed and tested solar concentrators to determine their value in improving the efficiency of solar panels and received awards from Entergy and the Green Mountain Chapter of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers for his innovative strategies.

In addition to their own hard work, the students had the support of their teacher, Eve Dubois, who obtained a grant from the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences for the purchase of equipment to support the students’ studies of matter and energy. With the combined support of parents and teacher, the students explored topics of personal interest over an extended period of time using the scientific method. The students celebrated their success at a school assembly on Earth Day, sharing stories of their experiences at the Science Fair.