FREDERICKTOWN — Biology, chemistry, environmental science and physics were all topics explored Tuesday during Knox County Girls in Science Day. Held in the old Fredericktown high school, Science Day gathered approximately 75 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders from Centerburg, Danville, Fredericktown, Mount Vernon and St. Vincent schools.
“The purpose of Girls in Science Day,” said coordinator Carmen Dixon, “is to show junior high girls what upper level science classes are about and to encourage them to sign up for these advanced courses. It also aligns with the Ohio Graduation Tests standards.”
Before the actual science day, the girls wrote essays detailing how science and technology have influenced their lives, and the top three essayists received medals for their efforts.
First-place winner Haley Burnside, a St. Vincent pupil, didn’t write about cellular phones, DVDs or any of the other things one would expect from a seventh-grader. She focused on medical technology, especially the glucometer, a device used to determine the approximate glucose levels in one’s blood.
Joelle Cassetto, a sixth-grader from Fredericktown schools, won second place by writing about how technology touches every part of her life, from entertainment to communication to education, transportation and health and hygiene.
Centerburg’s Morgan Bentz, grade eight, earned the third-place medal. She explained how science and technology touches everything and everybody.
“Science makes life happen,” she wrote.
Divided into four groups, all the young scientists attended and participated in hands-on workshops devoted to a particular branch of science.
