By Virginia Haney

Hampden-Sydney College hosted its first Fuqua Middle School Science Fair in Gilmer Hall courtesy of Sigma Chi science fraternity. 

H-SC student J.D. Chaudhry, president of Sigma Chi science fraternity, approached Fuqua Middle School science teacher Aaron Green about hosting the event in order to build a better relationship between Hampden-Sydney and Fuqua School. 

“The students handled themselves well,” Green said. “They had good manners and projects.” 

In previous years, the eighth-grade science fair was held in Fuqua’s Gee-Price Activity Center. Projects were presented to and judged by classmates; the event lasted the entire day. 

The day’s events began with Hampden-Sydney students presenting three demonstrations: an oil barrel implosion, water rocket shots and a watermelon potato gun shoot. 

“I thought it was amazing to watch the oil barrel implode; that was my favorite,” eighth grader Charlotte Haney said. 

H-SC also provided refreshments, judges and trophies for the winners.  Mary Katherine Kendall placed first, Audra Murphy placed second and Hannah Cook placed third.

Meanwhile, the lower school science fair, organized by science teacher Kelly Atkinson, was held at Fuqua. One of the projects was “Rainbow Flowers” by Autumn Rundstrom. Rundstom’s experiment tested to see if watering plants with colored water would make them turn colors. Another project by fifth grader James Royal tested “Are Birds Picky Eaters.” His hypothesis was that if he fed the birds three different types of bird seed, they would eat the sunflower seeds more than the fruit and nut bird seed. 

“I love the science fair because you get to choose something and you can compare stuff and it is just science,” Royal said.

Virginia Haney is a freshman at Fuqua School and online editor for the school paper, The Nest.