By Eliza Ridgeway

Eliza Ridgeway/Town Crier Yonaton Tadmor brandishes a sample of the mold he grew with Ido Simon.

It’s science fair season: poster boards are flying off the shelves, mold is growing and seedlings are sprouting.

At Santa Rita Elementary School, more than 100 students set up displays last week to showcase their exploration of the scientific method. Participants in the school’s “Science, math and engineering fair” canvassed topics as varied as botany, robotics, vulcanology and chemistry.

“I thought it was cool how a nail like this could change into copper,” sixth-grader Neha Rathaur said, gesturing to her project on copper acetate. Using a handful of pennies, vinegar, salt and an iron nail, Rathaur had a brush with modern alchemy.

Kindergartner Rodrigo Cochran worked with his aunt on assembling a robot and claimed that midway through the project, “She thought we could trade shoes!” After gesturing to his large feet proudly, he confirmed that she also thought he was her match in assemblage.

First-grader Allanah Terrett chose the classic vinegar and baking soda volcano for this, her first science fair. She said that she selected it based on a love of both volcanoes and explosions - “they’re cool!”

The red painted lava that wound down the mountainside revealed the young scientist’s other motivation for the project: she’s interested in being an artist.

Fifth-grader Yonaton Tadmor worked with Ido Simon on “Mold on Food,” a test of which foods rotted most completely within a fixed time frame. Operating on the hypothesis that the most moist and sugary foods would mold most effectively, the two cultured mold on grapes and then spread it on the test foods. The result? Lemon and apple were the winners, but most of the foods pictured sported some furry growth.

Tadmor credited Simon’s mother, a scientist, with some helpful explanations. Rathaur said that her mother had helped with the chemical symbols, but she had already learned a bit about the periodic table. She, Tadmor and many others cited the Internet as a source abundant with project ideas and explanations.

The team of Nirav Agrawal, Xavier Artache and Jonathon Golden got started with a grand plan, conceived by Artache, of “air-shoes, to make things float,” but they were grounded by parental units who said such an endeavor would require “too much equipment.” The trio of sixth-graders settled on a propulsion project, launching a balloon from a bottle filled with different gases: water and Alka-Seltzer, and vinegar and baking soda.

All three said their career sights are set on videogame design, improving graphic quality and interactive settings. All three nodded their heads sagely in acclamation of the higher quality games in the field today when asked by this unschooled reporter.

Every young scientist who participated in the evening went home with a medal. Fair organizer and sixth-grade parent Bill Heye said the noncompetitive atmosphere of the event encouraged participation.

“Kids get to do something with their mom or dad, and you can look at it as a wonderful complement to a standardized test,” Heye said. “There’s no grade or score on it, and you get to get your hands dirty.”