Noah Sweetbrown sat in front of his display at Hopkinton Independent School surrounded by a group of children, explaining to them the ins and outs of a solar water heater. The children could be forgiven for not knowing what some of the scientific details meant.

Sweetbrown is not a teacher, but one of the many students put into the shoes of an educator during the annual Hopkinton Independent School science fair on Thursday, Feb. 14.

“It’s very stressful,” said Sweetbrown with a smile. “I’m a farm boy so it (working on the complex science project) is a little different than I am used to.”

The process began in December when students learned to design science experiments and created lab reports around those experiments. Students set up their project based around a hypothesis, performed the experiment and then learned to use numbers as evidence to see whether they were right or wrong.

Hopkinton Independent School science teacher Marek Bennett said the fair is a rewarding one for the students, and the educators as well.

“This is one of my favorite events of the school year because it’s an afternoon of appreciation of the knowledge we’ve gained through our hard work,” he said. “The lab reports are a condensed articulation of what they’ve learned. They’re using language, art, computer and science skills.”

Students from first through eighth grade set up their displays throughout the room and explained their projects to the four judges who circulated the room. Each student whose project met the approval of the judges received a certificate of recognition, with four students receiving more specific awards.

The project topics varied greatly. First-grade partners Reed Simon and Madeleine Garner worked using kitchen materials to make “explosions.”

“My favorite part was looking into evidence and asking questions,” said Reed. “When I grow up I want to be a detective.”

Emma Swanson worked to determine how paper airplanes of different sizes are able to fly.

“I liked throwing the paper airplanes. You can’t do it in class, but this was for science,” she said. “I think science is really fun and I like it a lot.”

Bennett said putting their work on display is a motivating factor for the students.

“It’s inspiring for them because they’re interested in each other’s work, and as a teacher it’s inspiring to see all of the work put into a display,” he said. “You realize that we really do have a community of young scientists.”

It isn’t the results that Bennett finds the most impressive, but the attitudes throughout the science fair.

“I love to see how people take such an interest in it. They get to share not just their project, but their enthusiasm as well,” he said.