Ellen Levy walked around the displays of some 50 science projects at Santa Fe High School on Thursday afternoon like a proud mother hen.
"Each individual school here has had science fairs for years," said Levy, mathematics and science coordinator for Santa Fe Public Schools. "But having a districtwide exposition and challenge for the winners from each elementary school is a first for us."
Levy was enjoying a few minutes of calm— soaking in the hypotheses and conclusions— before the Carlos Gilbert Elementary contingent arrived for individual consultations with the volunteer judges.
Matthew Smallwood, 12, a sixth-grader at Carlos Gilbert, was meeting with Kit Brewer, a judge from the nonprofit group Earth's Birthday, which promotes hands-on, inquiry-based science activities.
Brewer wanted to know how Smallwood decided on his experiment.
Smallwood, an outdoors lover, said he wanted to find out which fabric would keep him warmest.
Smallwood's hypothesis was that polyester fleece would retain heat the best.
"But my conclusion was wrong," he said.
Acrylic fur was actually the best insulation, he found, with polyester coming in just behind that.
It was at the next table, however, where most of the kids and parents were gathering. That's because Rachel Estes, 10, was arranging a large plate of spongecake muffins, and Micah Sulich, 8, was shaking a bag of soon-to-be homemade ice cream.
Estes called her project "Eat My Cake." She listed as her problem: "What kind of flour makes the highest-rising cake?"
Her hypothesis was that the best-performing substance would be whole-wheat pastry flour because it contains the most protein and therefore would produce the most gluten out of the protein.
But she discovered that unbleached all-purpose flour made the highest-rising cake.
"I honestly think it would be different at sea level," said Estes, who plans to attend culinary school in Scottsdale, Ariz., when she grows up.
Close by was Sulich with his experiment, "To Use Chemistry to Make Ice Cream."
"I'll be giving out samples soon," said Sulich, who was wearing insulated gloves while shaking a plastic bag filled with ice cubes and salt. Inside was another plastic bag filled with milk, vanilla and sugar.
Sulich's experiment detailed how the salt melted the ice, drawing heat from the inner bag.
"This is called exothermic reaction," he had written by hand.
His father, Daryl Sulich, said, "There was an emphasis on Matthew doing the work himself," rather than having his dad type all the words on his computer.
At another table, the younger Sulich, Lulu, 5, a kindergartener at Carlos Gilbert, was explaining her "Snowy Owls" project.
"They live in the Arctic tundra, they eat lemmings, and they hunt ... she said, pausing before raising her voice: "during the day."
Lulu wants to be a marine biologist when she grows up.
Savings bonds awards— contributed by an anonymous donor to the school district— will be given in the amount of $500 to five first-place winners, $200 to five second-place winners, and $100 to five third-place winners. There were some 80 participants in the event.
