For about five minutes, all eyes were on 5-year-old Lyric Russell.
The kindergarten student at Lakeside Elementary School had constructed a miniature volcano for the school's Science Fair, which took place Thursday evening inside the school's gymnasium. About an hour into the event, it was time for Russell's experiment to show its stuff.
With the help of her mother, Carol Ford, the youngster poured red vinegar into the open top, followed shortly by baking powder.
Oohs and ahhs ensued.
Russell's volcano was one of approximately 35 science projects at Wednesday's annual event, which gives students the chance to show off their creative flair while learning a little bit about science in the process.
“This is a very good opportunity for the kids to work with science and have fun working on their projects with their parents and family,” said Brandy Olivera, the school's PTO science fair chairperson.
The projects ranged from “Marble Madness” to fingerprint scanning. Logan Jones, a second-grader at Lakeside, spent two weeks working with his father, Chris, to build battery-powered magnets.
“It was pretty cool,” the younger Jones said. “I learned about electromagnets and that they are all over the place.”
Chris said his son picked up on the idea for his project by watching him build a large battery-powered magnet quite some time ago.
“It was something he was interested in and I thought it would be fun to let him do it,” he said.
Nancy Suarez, a fifth-grade student, used her experiment to show how water and saliva have different effects on slices of bread.
“The object was to see which one got moldy first,” she said. “I had seen this at other science fairs and I thought it would be interesting.”
Karen Newport said her son, Eli, decided to run a fingerprint scanner as his project because of his new-found love of detective work.
“I got him started watching 'The First 48' on A&E,” Karen said. “He loves detective stuff.”
The Pittsburg State University Chemistry Club rounded out the event with a liquid nitrogen experiment.
PITTSBURG —
