Ranney's Science Week offers fun and discovery

Erik Bovino, a fourth-grader at Ranney School, and Morgan Rice, a beginner, show off their science projects.

March was a busy month for young scientists in Ranney's Lower School in Tinton Falls.

Students in beginners through fifth grade presented the results of their own scientific inquiries, displaying more than 200 projects for the Ranney community on Thursday, March 22.

This year the Science Fair was expanded to include an entire week of scientific assemblies, activities and speakers, according to Jennifer McDermott, Lower School science teacher who developed and organized the week's events.

"Our guest speaker assemblies were a special addition this year, including the Giant Reptiles assembly, which featured a variety of traveling reptiles and their trainer, and the Science Circus, which offered a demonstration of experiments by representatives from Liberty Science Center.

The weeklong event reflects a more robust science curriculum in the Lower School, enriched by the new science lab.

"Students have been hard at work for several months in the science lab, where they can use the resources of the lab to enhance their understanding and work cooperatively on projects," explained McDermott. "Because of the new curriculum this year, projects are broader in scope, covering a wide range of scientific disciplines, including: astronomy, earth science, physics, chemistry and biology."

The enriched science curriculum is displayed in colorful exhibits exploring everything from bat caves to volcanoes. This year's Science Week is a prelude to the possibilities students can look forward to upon the completion of the new Lower School, enhanced with state-of-the-art science labs that will incorporate technology and take science to a new level.

In the meantime, students have explored and debated science in a variety of contexts: in the classroom, in lab, on the shelves of the Searle Library, in tech class, on field trips, during guest assemblies and with guest speakers.