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U-46 science expo could have 1,000 displays this year

Organizers of the annual Elgin Area District U-46 science fair have created a monster — a monster-sized event that is.

The 2012 Discovery Science Exposition, set for Saturday, April 14 at Gail Borden Library in Elgin, is gearing up to be the district’s largest event with more than 800 proposals already submitted, said Jennifer McDonnell, the district’s coordinator of science, math, planetarium and instructional technology.

“It is huge this year,” McDonnell said. “It is going to present some challenges. We have to do things differently because we can’t fit it all in the library at the same time and we’re going to need more judges.”

In its third year, McDonnell said the noncompetitive fair could see more than 1,000 science projects on display. In 2010 and 2011, the fair attracted 300 and 650 projects, respectively.

“We want students to start looking at the process of science,” McDonnell said. “From high school students who are showcasing what they are learning in class to the younger elementary students who can do whatever they want, we want them to start questioning and investigating something they are interested in.”

Student proposals are due by March 8.

Last year, about 75 volunteers served as judges. McDonnell said she hopes to more than double that number this year. “We really want judges to spend time with students to learn about their work,” McDonnell said. “You don’t need to be an expert. The idea is to have students explain what they have learned and how they can modify it.”

The elementary science fair will be held in the morning of April 14, with middle and high schools participants displaying their projects in the afternoon.

Like previous science fairs, Fermilab’s Jerry Zimmerman, aka “Mr. Freeze,” will host a kickoff party with cryogenics featuring geysers, compressed gas and particle physics at 7 p.m., Thursday in the Community Rooms of the Gail Borden Library. Reservations can be made at gailborden.info.

The district and library will also host a series of workshops to help students complete projects. Dates of the workshops are to be determined.

To volunteer to be a judge, contact McDonnell at (847) 888-5000 ext. 5313 or jennifer.mcdonnell@u-46.org.

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