Hillside Students Display Creativity, Critical Thinking in Science Fair

A record number of Hillside Elementary School students participated in the 2012 Science Fair this week, showing creativity and scientific analysis in about 75 projects.

About 120 students in kindergarten to 5th grade participated or nearly one-third of the school. They worked on projects during lunch and after school, preparing exhibits that were reviewed by "celebrity judges":

• Kevin Walter, MD, director of Sports Medicine, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin
• Carol Kagy, supervisor of the Aviary, Milwaukee County Zoo
• Patricia Burke, curator of Paleontology, Milwaukee Public Museum
• Julie Kremer, Hillside Elementary School principal
• Lynn Raines, Brookfield Elementary School principal
• Norm Andrews, Hillside reading specialist

The students chose topics ranging from geology to physics to the natural sciences.

"They were all just truly well done," said Sara Silver-Traband, co-chair of the event dubbed "Science Fair 2012: Hillside Tests the Hypothesis."

"The students were so creative and really showed their ingenuity. Our judges were amazed at the scientific questions posed and the quality of the projects," she said.

Students in grades K to 2nd were judged on creativity, scientific topic and research. Students in 3rd to 5th were judged on their use of the scientific method.