57th annual Piedmont Region III Science Fair

Students gathered at the University of South Carolina Upstate campus where exhibits from the 57th annual Piedmont Region III Science Fair were on display Thursday. The fair involves students in grades 1-12 who represent public, private and home schools located in the Cherokee, Chester, Lancaster, Spartanburg, Union and York counties.

Buy Photo ALEX C. HICKS JR./alex.hicks@shj.com Published: Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:26 p.m. Last Modified: Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:26 p.m.

The science behind an erupting volcano, whitening toothpastes and what conditions are most conducive to mold was on display Thursday at the 57th annual Piedmont Region III Science Fair.

The event, held at the University of South Carolina Upstate, involves students in first through 12th grades from public, private and home schools in Cherokee, Chester, Lancaster, Spartanburg, Union and York counties. The fair included a wide variety of category entries, including behavioral and social science, biology, chemistry, general science, math and computer science and physics.

This year's fair had more than 750 entries.

“It's just a great opportunity for all the students to develop a hypothesis and go through the scientific process of proving something and learning a lot in the process,” said Carolyn Culbertson, director of the Piedmont Region III Science Fair.

Andrew Morris, a seventh-grade student at Granard Middle School in Cherokee County, won honorable mention for his project, “Big Foot.” Andrew tested to determine whether there is a correlation between the size of a person's foot and their height. There is.

“Usually, when people do (science projects), they learn more than when they just listen in class,” Andrew said.

Austin Duckett's colorful project caught the attention of many visitors to the fair. The Granard sixth-grader wanted to determine how long it would take crayons to melt under a hair dryer. His answer: 55 minutes.

“You can test new things that you haven't done,” Austin said.

Culbertson said the projects give students a different way to learn about things they're interested in.

“I think it provides an opportunity for children to learn and grow,” she said. “And any opportunity to entice them to learn and get busy and do more than what they normally do in their day-in, day-out education process stretches them a little bit further and makes them grow.”

Winning projects were marked Thursday, but winning students' names will be announced at an awards ceremony at the university Saturday. The downtown Spartanburg Rotary Club sponsors and funds the event, providing prizes to winners. The overall winner will earn a trip to Pittsburgh in May to compete at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Scholarships to USC Upstate will be awarded by the USC Upstate Foundation.

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Area students gather in the name of science for fair