The bleachers of the Brookhaven Academy gym were abuzz with excited elementary school science fair participants awaiting their awards on Monday.

Although this was the third year for Brookhaven Academy to host a science fair for students, it was the inaugural year of including third through sixth graders. The previous two years only required high school students to create and present a project.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get children thinking scientifically and critically. It’s exposure to all areas of science,” Elementary Principal Page Nelson said. “They’re learning by doing their own projects as well as by seeing each other’s projects.”

Nelson said it’s important for the elementary school children to participate as well as high school students because it incorporates higher level thinking across the science curriculum.

“This gives children experience articulating and communicating ideas to strangers,” Nelson said.

Projects began in November, as students came up with their ideas and began building a project from the ground up.

Because working on the projects is incorporated into daily curriculum, the participants have to complete assignments for daily grades, so that projects may be completed in sections.

The science fair came to Brookhaven Academy along with Dianne Watson and Leslie Hood, science teachers.

“There are fewer questions now than during the first year,” Watson said. “Now some students start earlier because they know the science fair is coming up. They all have to do so much to put the projects together.”

Fourth grader Emma Hill chose to do her project on music and study habits, experimenting with listening to different types of music to see if her grades could improve.

“Some people don’t do well in school, and I wanted to help them do better,” Hill said. “For me, lyrics were better than no lyrics at all. ‘Night Changes’ by One Direction helped me better than other One Direction songs.”

Hill’s primary subject focus was math, and by the conclusion of her experiment, Hill had improved by a full letter grade.

Another fourth grader, Makayla Martin, used different liquids to measure volume and density. The idea was that if you stacked different liquids according to their density and volume, the liquids would sit one right on top of another. Martin’s experiment won second place in the chemistry category.

“I looked on the Internet, and the project caught my eye, and I wanted to see if it worked,” Martin said. “I used a measuring cup to keep up with how much volume I had, and found that if the mass was uneven the experiment wouldn’t work.”

As the science fair has gained popularity at Brookhaven Academy, students are now asking for more extensive equipment to complete projects. They’re also getting offers for top of the line equipment from Mississippi State University.

“If students find a category they like, they may stick with it because they found their niche,” Hood said. “Some even stick with it and turn it into a career, which allows them to think of science in a different way.”

Ron Williamson, one of this year’s judges, said he’s had his hand in various science fairs since 1969.

“I enjoy seeing the kids, and what they’re doing, and how they’re inspired,” Williamson said. “Some of them really get something out of this, because for some of them this is their first time truly doing something on their own.”

Landon Banes, fourth grader who placed second in the engineering category, decided to measure what type of container would keep a beverage hot the longest. Banes got the idea when he was enjoying a cup of coffee, and when he left and returned to his beverage, it had gotten cold.

“I put water into a container at 146 degrees for 15 minutes, and then measured the hotness of the liquid afterward,” Banes said. “I thought the ceramic mug would keep it hot the longest, but instead the aluminum travel mug keeps it hot the longest. That’s what I drink my coffee out of now.”

After all elementary projects had been judged, the children piled into the bleachers, awaiting their ribbons, bragging rights and most importantly their coveted spot at the district competition.

Categories included behavioral and social science, Earth and space, physics, botany, engineering, microbiology, zoology, chemistry and microbiology, environmental science, medicine and health, and math and computers. Categories with the most participants also included honorable mentions alongside first, second and third place winners.

“There’s been tremendous parental and teacher support, and without that it wouldn’t be successful,” Nelson said.