Young scientists display their ingenuity at KLDCS science fair

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Some of Kirkland Lake’s brightest budding scientists displayed their ingenuity during the KLDCS grade nine science fair that took place on January 17. 

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The projects involved all branches of science, and they were judged by members of Kirkland Lake’s business community. 

Penny Kurz conducted a study involving ingredients that are used to make banquettes and what the results would be if the amount of water used in the mixture is changed. 

“I made some bread with more water and then some bread with less water. The ones with more water tend to have a better sweeter taste. It gets crispier, darker”. She added as more water is added however; the shape of the bread becomes very uneven. 

“So, when people see the one (that is uneven) they don’t want to eat it, they would rather eat the one that looks even, even though it is more dense and drier.” 

She added she received many tips through a teacher at the school. “When I did my research, I have a teacher, Mr. (Marc) LaRouche. I went to him because he makes a lot of baguettes. He told me about that (using varying amounts of water). That is where I got most of my research. So, he told me about that, so that became my hypothesis.” 

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For students William Fountain and Blake Roddick, their experiment delved into the world of Aeronautics. 

As Fountain explained “our experiment is testing different types of (aircraft) wing profiles. We have a small one, a medium one and a large wing profile. With our experiment we put our wings on a stand, and on a scale. We calculated the original weights with no wind and once we activate the wind, you will see that the weight (of the wings) will become less because the wing is creating more lift. It won’t take off because the wing is too heavy to take off, but it is still weighing less because when the wind creates lift, it is pushing off.” 

He added by doing that they can calculate how much lift it is creating. 

Speaking to the purpose and results of the fair, the school’s Math, Science and Computer Studies department head, Dan Kurz said “the goal of the 2025 KLDCS Grade 9 Science Fair was to create a performance opportunity for all of our Grade 9 Science students to show their learning and creativity.    

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“Our students certainly rose to the occasion and presented a wide variety of innovative ideas and experiments. It was also an amazing opportunity for my Communication Technology students to learn how to run big events and have real communication problems to solve. I hope that this year’s fair was a good start for a chain of many future events here in Kirkland Lake.  I would like to thank all of the community businesses and organizations that sponsored awards and provided judges. Thanks also to Heath and Sherwood for providing the display boards.  We are looking forward to Science Fair 2026 already.” 

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