A boy and his dad are drilling through ice on a frozen pond. A girl is testing sunscreen on a cloudy day because a sunny one never came. A student is watching a volcano erupt in the kitchen, measuring foam height with each new combination of ingredients. These are not scenes from a science textbook — they are the Martinsville Elementary sixth grade science fair, playing out in living rooms and backyards and frozen ponds across the community every winter.

Amanda Gullquist has been teaching sixth grade at Martinsville Elementary long enough to know that the science fair is much more than a school project. It is a three-month commitment that pulls students, parents, and sometimes the whole family into the scientific method — whether they planned on it or not.

The process begins in December, when families receive a letter explaining the timeline and expectations. In January, parents and students work together to submit project ideas — experiments that must be measurable and repeatable. Gullquist helps each student select the strongest concept from what they propose, and then the real work begins. Every bit of the actual experiment happens at home. The hypothesis, procedures, data collection, and conclusions are all family territory.

At school, students work in science and language arts classes on a five-paragraph research paper connected to their project topic. Deadlines are built in throughout the process — for the question, hypothesis, title, and procedures — to keep students from falling behind. "People don't realize just how hard they work as sixth graders," Gullquist said. "It pulls everything together."

This year's class of 23 came up with a notably varied lineup of projects. One student built a volcano and tested which chemical combinations produced the most foam and the greatest height. Another compared generic and name-brand sunscreens using UV exposure — though sunny days were scarce, leading to the discovery that sunscreen matters on cloudy days too. One student tackled the classic question of which materials conduct electricity better, experimenting with potatoes and lemons. And one of the most ambitious projects this year came from a student passionate about hunting and fishing: which lure attracts fish best — tested through actual ice fishing on a frozen pond.

That project very nearly didn't happen. The ice took longer than expected to freeze solid enough to be safe, sending the student into a panic about his timeline. Then, just as he and his dad managed to complete two of the required three trials, the ice began to thaw. On the last viable day, his father drilled one final hole so his son could finish. "A lot of factors came into play on some of them," Gullquist said with a smile. Real science, it turns out, rarely goes according to plan.

The Science Fair itself was held on March 31st and was open to the public. Three outside judges — two community members with science backgrounds who have returned year after year, and a former Martinsville sixth-grade teacher — evaluate each student on their scientific approach, experimental knowledge, oral presentation, and visual display. That judging accounts for half of the project's total 300 points. Students also earn points for completing their research paper and for turning in each component on time throughout the semester.

First, second, and third place winners each receive a plaque, and in recent years, top finishers have been invited to present their projects to the school board — an opportunity both students and board members have embraced. The afternoon of the fair, the rest of the elementary school rotates through the displays, with students offering candy to younger visitors willing to listen to a project explanation. It is, reliably, a big hit with the little kids.

Gullquist hopes the community will come out and see what three months of curiosity and family effort look like when it all comes together. Winners were announced on April 1st. The pond has thawed, the volcano has erupted, and the results are in.