Sisters Science Fair educates kids of all ages

The air vibrated with electricity in the Sisters High School commons as students from all three Sisters public schools shared their creative abilities and knowledge in the seventh annual Sisters Science Fair. Hundreds of folks got involved through hands-on challenges with science experiments, activities and demonstrations from constructing rockets and the magic of slime, to learning about aeroponics in Sisters High School greenhouse.

The fair was sponsored by the Sisters Science Club and free to all. "Outdoor Science" was this year's theme and was evident throughout the fair with displays ranging from "What do our Trees Tell us?" to "Native Bird Care."

Sisters Science Club President Bob Collins was having a great time observing students demonstrate the science behind each unique project to hundreds of spectators.

"This year we are emphasizing outdoor science," Collins said. "And what is exciting to me is what's going on in the greenhouse this year. They are doing experiments in the greenhouse, they aren't just growing lettuce. That's a dream come true for me to have a greenhouse which is actually a scientific laboratory!"

Some exhibits were located down the school hallways, such as SHS "Star Lab" planetarium. And as an added attraction this year, Brian Berry, director of classes and traveling programs at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), brought "Discovery Dome," OMSI's portable, museum-quality planetarium. OMSI is one of the nation's leading science centers and is located in Portland.

"We brought the portable planetarium because we thought the night sky would be a really nice alignment for the theme Outdoor Science," Berry told The Nugget. "Ours is different from the Star Lab because it is fully digital and is operated by a laptop with an interactive digital night sky database."

With Mike Geisen, ECoS (Earth, Community, Self) teacher from Sisters Middle School at the helm, and a few volunteer students, kids of all ages were able to ascend a rope to see what it would be like to actually climb up to the forest canopy.

"This is part of our ECoS program at the middle school," Geisen said. "This is called the single-rope technique for tree ascending. Most of the time there isn't a lower branch on the tree, so we shoot a line of rope up in the tree and ascend the rope. We inch-worm up the rope and eventually you're up in the canopies."

ECoS eighth-grade students explore science and life as a community of learners by immersing themselves in the natural world.

"We go on field trips and weekend expeditions around Oregon. Our activities include backpacking, caving, rock-climbing, surfing, archery, tree-climbing, and forestry. We study all different kinds of science," he added.

Black Butte School from Camp Sherman had a display table showcasing their latest scientific project. And sixth-grader Emily Bourdage shared her knowledge about kilowatts.

"We plugged in a lot of different appliances and measured the kilowatts of each. A kilowatt is a measure of 1,000 watts of electrical power," Bourdage explained. "We were able to see which appliance uses more power."

Wes Estvold has been a technology teacher at Sisters Middle School for over 20 years, and his computer technology classes are a favorite for many. And this year Estvold brought a fun interactive augmented-reality sandbox. The hands-on sandbox exhibit was on loan from the Redmond School District.

"You can simply mold the sand by hand and the landscape comes to life," Estvold explained. "The sand is augmented in real-time with an elevation color map and topographic contour lines. We are hoping to make our own in the Sisters School District."

Sisters naturalist Jim Anderson was on hand sitting by the Native Bird Care of Sisters display with Marley, a great horned owl living in captivity because of an injured wing.

"Marley is about 12 years old now, and owls in captivity can live up to 45 years," Anderson said, as he handed a spectator mouse-meat to feed to the owl.

Elise Wolf, a Sisters wildlife rehabber and director of Native Bird Care of Sisters, was educating folks about native birds of Central Oregon.

"I have expanded ever since High Desert Wildlife Rehab closed in 2016," Wolf said. "I have a rehabilitation facility on my property in Sisters. And last year I took in 200 birds and responded to 250 calls that I provided assistance to."

The Design, Construct, Compete (DCC) competition is always a highlight of the fair, and they were back again with hand-designed balloon cars created by students navigating around barriers, going the distance. The DCC race was held in the gym, conducted by Rob Corrigan.

"This year we are mixing it up in a variety of different ways. The students have built a cart or something that rolls with an attached balloon," Corrigan said. "They use the energy that is stored in the balloon to propel their car."

David Novotny and Spencer Bordonoro won first place.

Ian Sherman from the Central Oregon Rocket Club had a display table with model rockets for viewing, and also had small model rocket launches outdoors in the baseball field for spectators to watch at two separate times during the fair.

"We've been constructing rockets all day," he said. "This year we also brought a cosmic globe with us. It shows you the way electricity interacts with the human touch."

Outside in the 30-by-50-foot greenhouse, Seed to Table Farm founder and greenhouse manager Audrey Tehan was standing by to answer questions about the living laboratory.

"We have been studying the different growing techniques and learning about hydroponic growing and aquaponics," said Tehan. "We are now growing figs, avocados, peach trees, guava, citrus and all sorts of things. We are seeing what the potential is for the greenhouse. This is exciting to be able to explore the field and try to create kind of a tropical environment since we don't get to experience that in

Central Oregon."

The Science Fair was a chance for young scientists to investigate questions and to show off their own experiments and demonstrations. It was an opportunity for students to learn science hands-on, and to teach others what they learned.