J.A. Laird Elementary School held their first ever Environmental Fair Wednesday, June 14.

Students in grades 4-6 chose a wide range of topics to study, such as ‘How did ancient Egyptians build environmentally friendly houses’, ‘Microplastics in oceans’, and ‘The Effects of Microwave Water on a Plant’. Others created an environmentally-friendly business, such as a pillow out of thrift store materials, or recycled shoes.

Grade 6 students Aidan Guest and Peyton Cooper investigated the voltage of a potato-powered battery versus a dirt-powered battery.

The two students say it was a fun project and they were surprised the dirt battery actually produced electricity.

“We learned that they (dirt bateries) could probably be used as a renewable energy source in the future,” said Peyton.

Aidan says maybe dirt-powered energy could be even closer than we think, saying in his research he found some TED talks on dirt-powered electricity as a possibility.

Grade 5/6 teacher Dylan Dainard says his grade 6 students last year got to participate in the grade 7 science fair and really enjoyed the process. He decided an environmental fair would be a good way to encourage the younger students to learn about the process of researching and presenting a topic.

The effects of microwave water on plants. Photos by Lorene Keitch

Rocky Mountain School District Superintendent Paul Carriere and student Karson Schick listen to Aidan Guest talk about his experiment. Photo by Lorene Keitch