QSI International School of Tbilisi Presents Science Fair
On March 9th Quality Schools International (QSI) school of Tbilisi presented its science fair project of 27 secondary students of Biology and Physics. The fair, which began in October last year, ended with 5 winners from both fields and ranged from testing the pulling force of an increased number of propeller blades for an airplane to how the amount of salt in soil affects the growth rate in pea plants.
The first prize winner was Sasha Berliner of the 10th grade at QSI International School Tbilisi for his invention related to the pulling force of planes with a different number of propellers.
The 2nd prize went to Ruslan Bryan for testing oxidizer proportions for an optimum rocket fuel;
The 3rd prize went to Ketevan Mdzinarishvili for analyzing chemical reactions through the activity series on metals;
The 4th prize went to Guy Crowley for studying salinity and its impact on plant growth;
And the 5th prize was awarded to Luisa Heining for her study of which cooking methods for vegetables permit the highest vitamin C retention.
GEORGIA TODAY spoke to first prize winner, Sasha Berliner. “What I’m doing is my passion and I want to continue in this direction after graduation. As for my experiment, I did it on a number of propeller blades to see the effect on pulling force. I predicted that the more blades you have on a propeller the better it will be. I concluded that having four blades is the strongest in terms of ideal area and propeller. I want to thank the organizers and my school for giving us this incredible opportunity to be creative. For me, this is the first science fair and I’m very thankful and happy.”
Travis Hostetter, one of the organizers of the fair and science teacher at QSI, took time to tell GEORGIA TODAY how he felt about the fair and the results the students came up with.
“It’s an understatement to say I’m proud of what our students have worked so hard towards and accomplished. The breadth and depth of the projects was fantastic as you can really see the creativity in these students. At QSI International School of Tbilisi, we pride ourselves on offering a robust science program, and this year’s science fair was representative of this. We look forward to next year’s science fair and seeing what new ideas and experiments our students create,” Hostetter told us.
The event was organized by Travis and Ashley Hostetter, the secondary school science teachers for QSI International School of Tbilisi, with the support of the Director of Instruction, Joshua Garrett, and the Director, Daniel Blaho. Travis and Ashley are husband and wife and have been in Tbilisi since August 2015. Previously, they taught at the QSI International School of Montenegro for five years, where they started their science fair program.
Meri Taliashvili