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In February, hundreds of high school and middle high
students descended upon the University of New Orleans Human Performance
Center for the 56th Annual Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering
Fair (GNOSEF). The 2011
GNOSEF, one of the oldest of its kind in the nation, featured over 350
student projects and awarded more than $25,000 in cash and prizes to
high school and middle grade students in Orleans, Jefferson, St. Bernard
and Plaquemines Parishes. Projects are judged by a panel of academic and
professional experts in the areas of science and engineering.
The GNOSEF is one of
ten regional fairs in Louisiana affiliated with the Intel Science and
Engineering Fair. The three finalists in each category of both the
junior division (middle school) and senior division (high school) will
be certified for entry in the Louisiana State Science Fair at LSU on
March 28-29. These winners
are eligible to advance to
state and international competition where they will compete for more
than $4 million in cash and prizes.
Core
Element: The Greater New
Orleans STEM Initiative is a proud partner of the Greater New Orleans
Science
and Engineering Fair.
Annette Oertling, GNOSEF Fair Director and Assistant
Dean of K-12 Outreach in The School of Science and Engineering at Tulane
University, believes that when students have the opportunity to apply
the scientific method to topics that truly intrigue them, they respond
with fresh ideas and innovative research. “Student’s thought-provoking
questions, imagination, creativity, insight and enthusiasm continue to
amaze me,” she notes.
Dr. Oertling also points out the on-going need to
gather support from the engineering, science and technology business
sector to assist teachers and students in gaining interest and grow the
science fair program. The
corporate partners, teachers, students and community volunteers
currently involved with the science fair are laying the groundwork for
new solutions to the diverse challenges that face our community. High
School Junior, Mitchell Hartley highlights this point.
His experiment “Absorbing Oil with Invasive Species” was directed
at finding a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, “green”
alternative to an oil spill clean- up.
 The
2011 fair marks the 43rd year that 7th grade science
teacher, Brother Laurence Konersmann with Christian Brothers School in
New Orleans, has had students participating in GNOESF.
He calls GNOSEF, “One of the best
science fairs in the nation.
They offer an extreme amount of awards in a large, expanded
category list. This is very
rewarding to the student participants because they have ample
opportunity to win and are exposed to a variety of businesses in the
community. Brother Lawrence
adds, “Science fairs develop skills that
reach down to everybody’s lives, whether you want to be a scientist or
not. The point is
the students learn, are rewarded for their efforts and they
have fun. When kids get involved and do a
project themselves, they get excited about science.”
Many of his former students return
to visit Brother Laurence to let him know that science class and science
fair has made a difference in their interest in science as a possible
career choice. “That is the
most rewarding part of what I do,” Brother Laurence said with a big
smile.
At John Curtis High School, science teacher Cathy
Boucvalt’s students have
been attending the science fair for the past 19 years.
This year she is proud to share the fact that 54 of her students
are attending the GNOSEF fair.
In the summer of 2010, Ms. Bouevalt attended a Core Element
Professional Development program that
focused on teaching students the importance of journaling and how to
create activity log books.
Cathy shares, “All students that participate in creating science fair
projects are now required to keep a composition book to journal every
part of their experiment process.
This is a working journal and at the end of the experiment, they
have a record of the entire process of the experiment; what worked, what
did not work and notes on their frustrations, observations and
findings.” Cathy adds that
ultimately the journal tracks every activity of the experiment and is
instrumental in helping students remember everything that transpired in
the process. The journaling
tool helps students learn using scientific techniques and practices.
Components of the journal include experiment hypothesis, research
methods and organization, required materials, procedures, results and
conclusions.
Math and Science Specialist for Orleans Parish
School Board, Dana Gonzalez, encourages science fair participation for
all students. Ms. Gonzalez
notes,” All science fair participants are winners.
The process allows for students to use their imagination, gain
interactive, hands-on experiences and build confidence.
The work involved in creating a science fair project develops and
reinforces successful work and life skills.”
Cathy Boucvalt would like to
encourage all teachers and parents to support student participation in
science fair. Cathy feels
that, “unfortunately, too many students look at science as something
difficult and frightening.
My personal philosophy is that more than half the battle is for a
student to have someone that believes in them and helps spark an
interest.” Former
students that have returned to visit Ms. Boucvalt indicated her
encouragement, guidance and tough attitude allowed them to challenge
themselves and bring their own capacity to the next level.
Cathy quickly adds,” the students are proud and take ownership.
Educating today’s kids in science and math is critical to the
future of our communities and our country.”
  
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