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Theo Boguszewski, eighth-grader at Longfellow Middle School, is a little nervous. 

Boguszewski, who won first prize in the eighth grade life sciences category at her school’s fifth annual science fair last week, is headed to the 49th annual Bay Area Science Fair in San Francisco in mid-March. 

“I guess it seems like it’s going to be a lot of people doing really complicated projects, and that’s a little scary,” said Boguszewski, who conducted an experiment on the effects of light and heat on chicken reproduction. 

Boguszewski is one of 250 seventh- and eighth-graders at Longfellow who participated in last week’s science fair, judged by some 50 volunteers from Bayer Corporation, UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Lab and elsewhere. 

Judges selected winners and runners-up in life science, physical science and social science categories, for both the seventh and eighth grades. First-place finishers will go to the Bay Area fair with a chance to advance to the statewide contest in Los Angeles in May.  

“We really encourage the kids to choose their own questions,” said Suzy Loper, a sixth-grade science teacher who helped organize the Longfellow fair. Loper said students get more excited about projects of their own choosing. 

Dante Williams, runner-up in the eighth grade life sciences category, agreed. “You can become more creative when you get to pick your project,” he said. 

Jonathan Cohen, seventh-grade science teacher, said middle school students are particularly interested in social issues, and that the social science category generates some of the most interesting experiments. 

This year some of the top projects in the social science field include a study of peer pressure, an examination of the reliability of eye witness testimony and a look into the effects of different types of dance on mood. 

“I dance numerous times a week and I knew my mood changed when I danced,” said Caitlyn Greene, an eighth grader.  

Greene, who conducted the study on mood at her dance studio, found that jazz dance makes people feel better and ballet makes dancers feel worse. But, she noted that there might be some methodological issues with her study. 

“If I went to a different studio that focused on ballet, the results would have been different,” she said. 

Annie Snow, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Longfellow, said these methodological lessons are some of the most important that a student can learn through a science project. 

“Students will say, ‘it didn’t work right,’” Snow said. “But it’s still a science project, and it’s still valid.” 

Stephanie Lowe, an eighth-grader who conducted a study on bicycle helmets and finished first in the physical sciences category, said she learned a lot through her project.  

But she has her eye on another benefit as well. “I think the Bay Area Science fair will be fun because we get to miss school and hang out,” she said.