PERU — Fourth grade students presented their Simple Machines science fair before teachers, classmates and parents Thursday afternoon at Dirigo Elementary School. 

The students of teachers Kristi Holmquist and Erin Duprey were tasked with researching levers, wheel and axles, pulleys, inclined planes, wedges and screws — all mechanical devices that change the direction or magnitude of a force.

Holmquist said the fair was the first time the students had used multimedia in a presentation. They drafted their informational packets for parents and other students to read. The packets contained a glossary of the six simple machines, along with information about each of the machines and an index page at the end.

Several of the students said they enjoyed the project, including Cecelia Gamache, a student in Holmquist’s class, who said that science was her favorite subject in school.

“I like the way you’re able to do projects for all kinds of things,” Gamache said.

Her opinion was seconded by Jaidyn Reynolds, a student in Duprey’s class, who said science and math were her favorite classes.

“I just like working with numbers, whether it’s adding, subtracting or working with fractions,” Reynolds said. “One day, my dad came home and caught me doing math with negative numbers. I was only in third grade, but I still really liked it.”

Reynolds added that while she likes doing projects in class, she prefers to work with paper, rather than giving PowerPoint presentations.

“I just like using paper and working with my hands more,” she said.

mdaigle@sunmediagroup.net

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