With clipboard scoring sheets resting in their arms, small groups of fifth graders visited graduate student research posters displayed throughout the Melrose Branch of the Roanoke Public Library. Asking thoughtful (and sometimes very challenging!) questions, these student judges listened to presentations from Virginia Tech graduate students and assessed 18 science fair posters and research explanations on specific criteria. After each poster presentation, the elementary students huddled together to decide on the score they would award.

    “I want to take these graduate students back to the classroom with me!” said one teacher chaperone. “I want [my students] to be this engaged all the time.”

 

This photo shows five children, two Black males, one white female with blond hair, one female wearing a black head covering, and one female wearing a patterned black headband, standing and looking at the clipboard held by one.
Judges confer about the score to be given to one of the Flip the Fair posters.

    This was the third iteration of Virginia Tech’s Flip the Fair, a “flipped” science fair in which graduate students use trifold science fair posters to display their work and elementary school children act as judges. On September 26, approximately 300 fifth grade students from Roanoke City’s Fairview Elementary, Hurt Park Elementary, Roanoke Academy for Math and Science, and Westside Elementary arrived in school buses at Melrose to participate in Flip the Fair 2024.

    “In my 19 years, this is one of the most impactful programs we’ve done,” said Amber Lowery, a Roanoke Public Libraries staffer, in an interview about last year’s event. “Kids may not see themselves going on to higher education and don’t consider the field of science as an option for them. To see graduate students from this area who look like them and are from this area and are young and passionate about their work just blew their minds.”

This photo shows a Black male in a blue "Flip the Fair" t-shirt holding a snake. Six children are gathered around looking at him, the snake, and his science fair poster.
Snakes, and perhaps especially the idea that some can fly, captured the attention of student judges at Flip the Fair.

    The first Flip the Fair, held in February of 2022, was created as part of a capstone project by graduate students in the Interfaces of Global Change program and was held on a Saturday, with 250 children, teens, and parents coming through the fair. A second event, held in September of 2023, took place on a weekday and was coordinated with the Roanoke public school system, with fifth grade students bussed to the library branch to participate.

    It takes a village to raise a child – and to host Flip the Fair. The 2023 and 2024 events were organized by graduate students Megan Evans, Gates Palissery, and Amanda Hensley, in conjunction with Roanoke Public Libraries and Roanoke City Public Schools. The Center for Communicating Science has provided financial support and a preparatory workshop each year along with helping to recruit participants and promote the event. Other Virginia Tech supporters include the Global Change Center, Office of Inclusion and Diversity,  Graduate School, College of Science, Fralin Life Sciences Institute, and Virginia Tech Carilion’s Student Outreach Program and  Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. A set of volunteers who were not presenting brought the event to life by greeting the school groups, shepherding students from poster to poster, facilitating the judging process, preparing thank-you gifts, and other tasks.

This photo shows a young Asian woman standing by a science fair poster and talking to three Black youth.
Titling a research presentation "Sticky Gripper" is just one of the many ways Flip the Fair presenters make their research accessible and engaging.

    “Being on the Flip the Fair organizing team for the last three years has been incredibly fulfilling,” commented organizing team member Palissery. “The kids who come to this event don't have opportunities to see scientists in action. I'm from a rural area, and like these kids, I didn't have resources or access to research when I was in grade school. I had no idea what research even was.  So it's important to me, personally, to give back when I can.”

    The current members of the organizing committee are focused now on finishing their degree programs and hope to pass the baton to graduate students who will carry the project forward. If that describes you, please contact Gates Palissery (gatespalissery@vt.edu), Amanda Hensley (amandaah@vt.edu) , or Megan Evans (megane97@vt.edu). 

    “Flip the Fair has the potential to change these kids' lives,” said Palissery. “It also helps grad students develop important skills, and it strengthens Virginia Tech's relationship with the Roanoke community. I see this as a win-win-win. It's an honor to organize Flip the Fair, and I hope it continues after I graduate this spring.”

This photo shows two young Asian adults, one female and one male, wearing blue Flip the Fair t-shirts. The male is putting an electrode cap on his head. Watching are two Black girls and a white-haired white woman.
Flip the Fair presenters sometimes used themselves as research subjects to explain their research to 5th grade judges. On screens throughout the library, book recommendations related to the research of each presenter were displayed.

    Flip the Fair has garnered attention beyond the Blacksburg and Roanoke region. The organizers of the first event wrote a full report and assessment of the event, published in the October 2023 issue of the Journal of STEM Outreach. The 2023 event was featured in the June 2024 issue of American Libraries (see page 14), the magazine of the American Library Association, after Hensley and library staffer Amber Lowery presented a talk about the project January 20, 2024, at the American Library Association LibLearnX conference in Baltimore, Maryland. And this fall, organizers Palissery and Evans were interviewed for Research!America's "Public Engagement with Science Training Special Series," a set of video recorded conversations about communicating science and science communication training efforts across the nation. Their interview, "Decoding Virginia Tech's Flip the Fair science engagement initiative with 2 student co-organizers," is available at Research!America and under the title "Elementary students judging science research? Co-organizers of Virginia Tech's Flip the Fair explain" at CivicSci TV. 

    Every graduate student presenter benefits from sharing their research with the children, teachers, and administrators who attend Flip the Fair. And some of them win prizes!  “The presenters made the judge’s job a tough one,” said Hensley. “Several of the scores were so close that it came down to several decimal points.”

This photo shows a young white woman in a blue "Flip the Fair" t-shirt standing in front of her science fair poster titled "The Haters Eating Ur Taters."
Hannah Swarm's poster and presentation about her potato wireworm research won first place at Flip the Fair.

    This year’s winners, selected by the fifth grade judges, are listed below.

Overall Winner:

Hannah Swarm, “The Haters Eating Ur Taters!” 

Curious Questioner (the “Why”):

1st place: Elizabeth Sicking, “The Wonders of Wetland Bugs” 

2nd place: Raffae Ahmad, “Eliminating Harmful Bacteria Inside Cancer with Electricity and Antibiotics” 

3rd place: Ya-Yun Chen & Sammy Hong, “How Our Brains See and Control Emotions” 

Methods Master (the “How”):

1st place: Lindsay Johnson, “How Far Do Honey Bees Fly?” 

2nd place: Catie Burgess, “Tracking Disease Spread Through Cattle Markets with Sample Pooling” 

3rd place: Jeff Anderson, Jr. & Joshua Taylor, “How Do Tree Snakes Find and Catch Food?” 

Radical Results (the “What”):

1st place: Maryam Haghani, “Fighting Disease: How Tiny Legos Fit Together” 

2nd place: Mia Ketelhohn & Marianne Beaulieu, “What’s in Your Poop?” 

3rd place: Nazia Bano, “Finding the Glue: How Cancer Cells Stick to New Places” 

Prettiest Poster:

1st place: John Joyce, “Robots that can Drive and Fly” 

2nd place: Blessy Antony, “Viral Language: Teaching Computers the Virus Alphabet” 

3rd place: Yeunhee Kim, “Sticky Gripper”