Creekside science festival provides fun for all

Gravity-defying hovercrafts, glow-in-the-dark bacteria, and shape-shifting marshmallows. Are we in the Twilight Zone? Close, but no. This magic was none other than the fourth Annual Castro Valley Science Festival.

Upon stepping into the CVHS cafeteria, I was immediately greeted by the sights and sounds of science in action.

Elementary-schoolers and parents alike eagerly lined up for the human bubble station, the X-ray area, and the Shrinky-Dink table.

It was truly a sight to behold, and I couldn’t help but think that this was the way science was meant to be.

Charles Reynes, the ringleader of the whole affair, certainly agreed.

“There are no standardized tests in science for these kids, and yet they consistently do better in reading and comprehension than kids in other districts where science is standardized,” explained Reynes over the shrieks of excitement at the magnet station.

“If all the teachers do is pound the vocab, the kids suffer. But if you get them doing hands-on stuff, it’s so much more fun and they end up learning a lot more,” Reynes continued.

This certainly seemed to be the case. Students, when asked if they were having fun, nodded fervently and flashed bright smiles.

Many of them also told me that science was their favorite subject in school (aside from recess, of course).

“My favorite part is the experiments,” a fourth grader informed me. “You get to do really cool stuff like this,” she said, gesturing to the alligator-clipped light bulbs at the “Circuit Circus” table.

The cafeteria was brimming with cool experiments and activities, but the fun didn’t stop there.

Lining the downstairs math wing of 700 Hall were countless posterboard science projects done by the fourth and fifth graders of the district’s elementary schools.

Propped proudly up on all of the tables were experiments on everything from lung capacity, to memory retention, to the 5-second rule, to “How to Raise a Sunken Ship.”

Two impressive-looking judges in white lab coats and glasses were slowly making their way through the throng of posters.  When asked what they looked for in a winner, they thought for a moment before replying that originality of ideas and organization were important factors. One of the judges said that he specifically looked for a “beginning, middle and end” in the projects.

Overall, the judges were very impressed with the high quality of this year’s projects and looked forward to awarding ten of them with the winning golden stars.

Later on in the festival, middle schoolers began to infiltrate the cafeteria, wearing their schools’ respective blue or red uniforms.  This signaled the end of the elementary school portion and the start of the much-anticipated Creekside vs. Canyon science competition.

Every seat was filled, and eager parents flipped on their camcorders to capture what was sure to be an interesting event.  They weren’t disappointed.  The competition started off smoothly, with each team firing off the answer to the questions faster than the announcer could ask them.

Then came the pivotal question to Creekside: “What happens at mid-ocean ridges?” Stumped, the Creeksiders glanced helplessly around at each other before taking an inaccurate guess. This gave Canyon the lead when the first half drew to a close.

The second half was no less exciting. At one point, there was a discrepancy over whether the Creeksiders should be given a point for an answer they had to clarify. This led to a long, intense discussion at the judges’ table that resulted in a drastic shift in points. Previous Canyon points were revoked, allowing Creekside to take the lead.

“Coming from behind this year…” the announcer teased, eliciting a squeal of excitement from the Creekside table.   “With a score of 36-34, Creekside wins this year’s science competition!” The Creekside table erupted into cheers before merrily accepting the trophy.