ELLSWORTH, Wis. - The South Pole Experiment Contest is giving a group of 7 graders at Ellsworth Middle School in Ellsworth, Wisconsin a chance to do science at the South Pole.
The contest, run by the University of Wisconsin, was open to student groups in Belgium, Germany, and all across the United States. The question the students wanted to answer was how do magnets work at the south pole?
"Design an experiment that works really well in your hometown but will give different results in the south pole," said Katie O'Shea. 7th Grade Teacher at Ellsworth Middle School.
Using a variety of magnets and shapes the students tested how they would interact with the iron filings.
"What we are going to do is we're gonna drop a magnet in the middle and see how much it absorbs," said Sofia, a 7th Grader.
And there were some challenges.
"The challenges were taking apart the magnets, getting your hands clean and figuring our what experiment we are going to do," said Quinn, a 7th Grader.
Scientists at the south pole will then do the same tests and videotape their results for the students to see.
"Science is you can have fun with you can do a bunch of things with it, you can have fun with it, you can learn and have fun at the same time," said Aiden, a 7th Grader.
The takeaways for these young scientists will be more than dirty fingers and a video of their experiment, but a chance to work together with other scientists around the planet.