Children of all ages enjoyed looking at science experiments and presentations, with their parents, at Fort Belvoir Elementary Schools fourth annual Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Science Fair March 19.

Students from all of the schools grade levels were eligible to participate in the fair on a voluntary basis, according to Nancy Rowland, FBES STEM coordinator. Sixth graders were judged on multiple categories and the winners can compete in an April 5 science fair at George Mason University. The rest of the students were not judged for their projects. About 400 students participated in the fair.

Their projects were displayed on multiple levels of the school.

It is nice to see this kind of energy, Rowland said during the fair. We are excited.

Theresa Carhart, FBES principal, said the science fair provided an opportunity for students and Families to see science in action.

FBES has been sponsoring STEM programs for more than four years, according to Rowland. The programs have been funded by two Operation Patriotic STEM grants from the Department of Defense Education

Authority worth more than $3 million.

The four categories that sixth graders were judged on during the fair include chemistry, biology, social behavioral and physics, according to Rowland. Some sixth graders earned first, second, third place recognition and there were some honorable mentions.

The students learned about hypothetical thinking when doing their projects. They would come up with an experiment and then they would hypothesize, or think, about what they expected the outcome of the experiment to be.

Kara Fahy, FBES STEM resource teacher, said the students loved doing the experiments. A lot of them were surprised when the results of their experiments did not match their hypotheses. Fahy liked that the students were taking risks.

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STEM Science Fair intrigues students, parents