LYNN — After carving out a hole in a lemon, William Baez filled the fruit with red food coloring and baking soda.
“Here we go,” said the 14-year-old.
Seconds later a red fizz oozed from the lemon dripping down the sides and onto the plate below.
“How do you like that?” he asked.
His lemon volcano experiment, which worked to perfection, was one one of many science experiments at the Lynn YMCA on Thursday. Students from preschool through grade seven participated in the Y’s first annual Science Fair.
Across the hall from Baez, four-year-olds Jahaira, Aviana and Arnold were showed off their model of the solar system, made from ping pong balls, tiny basketballs, and other toys.
“This one is Pluto,” Aviana said before rattling the small planet attached to a cardboard box with some string.
Shifting from fruit volcanoes and outer space, Alecs Kanani, 7, focused his experiment on crayons. Comparing the Crayola brand to Coloration crayons, the group used a hair dryer to melt each brand and observing the differences.
“The Crayola ones look better because they’re prettier and more expensive,” Kanani said.
Another set of experiments focused on the sugar contained in soft drinks. Andrielee Amely, 10, and Wiljaniel Echandy, 11, examined the different sugar content in Pepsi, Snapple and Sierra Mist. They then used table sugar and filled up plastic baggies to get a look at how much sugar is in the soft drinks.
“I was surprised,” Amely said. “I didn’t know that these drinks had so much sugar.”
Eighth graders Rosie Chheang and Ararat Gebreyesus needed help from spectators with their lemonade experiment. They filled three different gallons of freshly squeezed lemonade with different amounts of sugar to see which one taste testers would like the most.
“Our hypothesis is that people will like the lemonade labeled C this best because it has the most sugar,” Gebreyesus said.
Soon the hallway was packed with children, staff and visitors, eager to see each unique experiment.
Amy Croce, the Y’s senior programmer said it was a great display of what the organization is all about and hopes to make it happen again in the future.
“This isn’t just a place to come and play basketball, we have a lot of educational opportunities for our kids too,” she said.
“Some students are standouts of the court or on a field but a lot more excel in academics. We want all of them to be able to find their niche.”
