ADAMS TWP — From “Elephant Toothpaste” to “What Music Do Plants Like Best?” students from Mars Elementary School made science come alive at the annual Science Fair on Wednesday night.

The event, which was held in the high school gymnasiums, saw 241 second-, third- and fourth-graders display the results of 150 science experiments they embarked on alone or in groups.

Parents, teachers, school board members and superintendent Jim Budzilek strolled the gyms, listening to the students explain their respective projects and the conclusions they drew from them.

“I am a former science teacher, so this is near and dear to my heart,” Budzilek said as he heard Raghav Kalbhor and Timothy Jayamohan enthusiastically describe their project, “Levitating Magnets.”

The two fourth-graders told Budzilek and school board member Christine Valenta that magnets with similar poles repel each other, while different poles will attract.

The boys' demonstration included placing wires magnetized with different poles onto the receptors on a 9-volt battery to make a paper clip stick to the battery. They also used the theory to cause a magnet to magically hover over another magnet of the same pole.

Their large trifold display explained how magnets are used in maglev trains, the space launch system, and wind power. It also listed magnet facts.

“And we learned the Earth is magnetic, because its core is made of nickel and iron, and it has a North and South Pole,” Raghav explained.

Valenta said the science fair follows the cross-curricular education model, because students used math, science, English, art, technology and other subjects to bring their projects from a concept to a scientific conclusion.

“This is a perfect example of that,” said Valenta, who served on the science fair committee.

Raghav's parents, Chetan and Sonali Kalbhor, said they enjoyed supporting their son as he and Timothy worked on the magnet project. They said the boys now wonder if various things they see involve magnets.

“It's a simple concept, but magnets are used in so many ways,” Chetan Kalbhor said.

Third-graders Patrick Bromley, Billy Sommers and Logan Blank teamed up for the “Salamander Hideaways” project, and proudly displayed their conclusion, complete with Patrick's salamander, Hector. The boys glued four small plastic huts with dirt, rocks, grass and moss, respectively, and then repeatedly allowed Hector to choose a hut.

Although they expected Hector to head for the grass hut, he slithered to the dirt hut 70 percent of the time.

“He hated the rocks,” Patrick reported. “He only went in there once.” The trio's display included facts about salamanders, including their ability to regrow body parts, that there are 500 species of salamanders, and that “salamander” means “fire lizard.”

Patrick's mother, Priscilla Bromley, said that education was enhanced by the fair because it was hands-on learning. She was amazed at the variety of projects.

“It's awesome,” she said of the fair. “It was fun to walk around and see what everyone's projects were.”

Nathaniel Huerbin tackled some big words for a second grader in his “Glow in the Dark” project. He explained that he got the idea to do a project on phosphorescence, radio luminescence, and chemiluminescence from an item in his closet.

“I have a shirt that glows in the dark,” he explained.

Nathaniel's project involves shaking a glow stick to charge the phosphor inside, which lights the stick. He glued glow-in-the-dark zombies, dinosaurs, stars and planets inside a cardboard box that was painted black to demonstrate how light charges the objects so they are illuminated inside the dark box. A peephole cut in the box allows participants to see the pink and yellow items inside.

His mother, Stacey Huerbin, said she was happy to help Nathaniel with his science project because she loved science as a young student.

“I think science can be a lot of fun,” Huerbin said, “and the school district has a great science program.”

Also traversing the fair were eight scientists from the University of Pittsburgh. Clad in white lab coats, they perused the projects and asked questions of their creators.

Christi Kolarcik, a scientist and Mars parent, said her favorite projects included a hand-built maze that tested the intelligence of two mice, and one that determined whether humans run best in bare feet, various types of sneakers, or baseball cleats.

“The answer is bare feet,” said Kolarcik, who also served on the fair committee. She said the experiments enhance critical thinking skills.