Eighth grader Rachel Walsh was honored at the 2012 St. John’s Science Fair for her project “Does a balanced golf ball roll more accurately than an unbalanced golf ball?” Photo by John Singleton

By John Singleton

Some people view life as a collection of experiences. Others think of it as a search for the truth. Francis Bacon established the Scientific Method, based on experimentation and inductive reasoning to serve his church, his country, and to discover the truth of things. At St. John the Evangelist School’s annual Science Fair, the search for the truth continues.

“Through our sustained investment in an annual science fair, we are preparing students for careers in mathematics and the sciences,” said St. John’s Principal Sister Linda Larsen. “We are told our country is short on students who are sufficiently skilled to enter the fields of engineering and science. This year we are hoping to send 10student projects to compete in the Anne Arundel County 2012 Regional Science and Engineering Fair.”

For over 150 students who participated in Science Fair, the quest for understanding manifested itself in a variety of award-winning projects. Seventh grader Veronika Nemeth’s project “Do Fears Change with Age?” took First Prize in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category. Eighth grader Jimmy Callas experiment in determining the ‘lowest concentration of a solution that still has a perceptible taste for salt, vinegar, and sugar’ was awarded First Prize in the Biochemistry category, and Mary Smith’s “Does the Unemployment Rate in an Election Year Affect Voter Turnout?” won First Prize in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category for eighth grade.

“The universe isn’t random,” said Jimmy Callas, who has attended St. John’s since pre-school. “There is an order to things and great intelligence in the natural world that could only come from an intelligent being.”

Albert Einstein, who changed the course of the twentieth century with his observations about time, gravity, and energy,once famously proclaimed, “I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.” Motivation for the study of science is an enormous part of the success of the fair program at St. John’s.

“Science Fair is a huge undertaking that begins in late September with each student in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade developing a testable question within the framework of Bacon’s Scientific Method,” said Science Fair coordinator and science teacher Kathy Borsella. “The day is a culmination of the work done by students, supported by loving parents, aided by many parent volunteers, help from our staff, and countless hours of preparation behind the scenes.”

In the Earth and Planetary Sciences category, sixth grader John Nguyen earned top honors for “What is the affect of slope on the erosion process?” In the Behavioral and Social Sciences category sixth grade Lauren Walsh took second prize for “Does age affect memory?” and her sister, eighth grader Rachel Walsh, earned second prize for “Does a balanced golf ball roll more accurately than an unbalanced golf ball?”

For students at St. John’s,the quest for knowledge and aim to understand the universe is inseparable from the school’s mission in religious education. The students’ many questions are best expressed in another famous quote by Albert Einstein, "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind."