Page 70 Le Gala 2008 - Franco-American School of New York

66 Sixièmes découvrent les
Sciences en Folie ! | Mad
Science Meets 66 Sixth Graders
« Si vous voulez que vos plantes
poussent vite, donnez-leur du
Centrum ® , » précise Salome.
66 élèves sont venus mettre leurs
hypothèses à l’épreuve lors de la fête
des sciences des sixièmes, fin avril
dernier. Au moyen de méthodes
expérimentales,
quelques dizaines
d’équipes ont
démontré leur
savoir, sous le
regard fier de
leurs parents.
« C’est un
bon projet pour
nos élèves, qui
apprennent à faire
une présentation
et à répondre à des
questions. Il ne
faisait aucun
doute, au vu des
projets, qu’ils avaient
tous bien travaillé,
commente Bertrand
Pouget, professeur de
physique à l’école
secondaire entre 2006 et
2008. Nous devons donc les
encourager car cela n’est pas
facile. » Et son collègue de
biologie, Thierry Leroy,
d’ajouter que cet exercice
académique lui avait rappelé
son passé universitaire,
lorsqu’il avait dû soutenir
son doctorat…
Emmanuelle Rizk s’adonne à la
botanique | experiments with botany
“If you want your plants to grow fast
then give them Centrum ® ,” said Salome
Nicolle. She was among the 66 students
who experimented with their hypotheses
in the sixth grade Science Fair last April.
Using the scientific method, dozens of
student teams showed off their
knowledge to proud parents.
“This project is good for the students. They
learn how to answer questions and how to make
presentations. I could tell by their presentations that
they worked hard,” said Bertrand Pouget, a physics
teacher at the Upper School from 2006-2008. “We
need to encourage them because it is not easy to
make a presentation and answer questions.” Fellow
science teacher Thierry Leroy said he also
understood that aspect of academia as he reminisced
about his scholarly past when he was working toward
his doctorate.
While most students worked in pairs on their
experiments, there were some who went solo.
Regardless of grouping, students had to abide by the
scientific method: create hypotheses, experiment,
analyze, and draw a conclusion to prove or disprove
the hypotheses. “The annual Science Fair is an
opportunity for the students to apply what they have
learned in science class,” Mr. Leroy explained.
“Some students did their experiments over the course
of two weeks, and to sell their presentation to the
judges, they included photos to support their
observations.”
The night of the Fair, students had only three
minutes to present to two judges, a teacher in the
Science Department and one of four students in
11S: Gaëtan Boulard, Soraya Hajjaji, Victoire
DeNeufville, and Bourzeix Claire. Then, the students
endured another three minutes of intense queries
from the judges. “The presentations were great!” said
Soraya, who said she really enjoyed participating in
the Fair. “I was impressed by the students’ work.” n