Graham Linam wants to know how fluctuating winter temperatures impact rough-legged hawk sightings in Montana.  

The idea came to the 10-year-old in December, when he saw the bird of prey listed on the 2025 Bigfork Christmas Bird Count. 

“I thought that winter temperatures might affect the migration of rough-legged hawks,” Graham said. 

He dove into research, using the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Park Service as his references, and ran data through Gemini 3.1 to scan for significant trends.  

“My hypothesis was that higher winter temperatures negatively correlate with rough-legged hawk numbers,” Graham said. “But this chart proves I could have been wrong.” 

One hundred and seventy students packed into Glacier Gateway Elementary’s gymnasium in Columbia Falls on Thursday for the Flathead County Science Fair. Every year, the fair draws in third- through 12th-grade students from across the valley, challenging them to explore an array of topics using the scientific method or engineering design process.  

Do animals have a favorite color? Does music shape your memory? Is sand a conductor of electricity? 

To that last question, Edgerton Elementary School third grader Claire Hensley, 8, discovered sand needs water to carry an electric current. Her experiment included an electric stick and three plastic tubs — one filled with water, one with wet sand and one with dry sand. 

“Always check the weather before going to the beach,” was Claire’s advice.  

Eighth-grade student Madelyn Lee said she aspires to be a lawyer one day. For her project, she tested what kind of dust most accurately captures a fingerprint. She hypothesized it would be graphite, but discovered magnetic powder provided the clearest copy of a fingerprint.  

“I feel like I should have done it more times,” Madelyn said, adding she overall felt confident about her project.  

A team of 70 volunteer judges scored the presentations based on thoroughness, presentation and originality. Judy Scallen, who is in her sixth year of judging, said the future is in good hands. She’s always impressed by the originality of the science projects and how excited kids are when presenting. 

“They’re bright,” Scallen said. “They have cool things that you wouldn’t learn if you were sitting at home.” 

Judge Marshall Fladager works at Applied Materials and loves to come out to support the kids. This is his second year judging at the science fair.  

“These kids are inquisitive, and they think about stuff I don’t think about,” he said. “It’s really cool.” 

Jess Hensley, who sits on the Flathead County Science Fair Committee, said she doesn’t know of any other Montana county that hosts a science fair. She’s been on the committee for eight years and works hard to keep it going.  

“It’s super important and valuable,” Hensley said, who also runs the Edgerton Elementary School Science Fair. “We’re pretty passionate about trying to keep it afloat.” 

Reporter Hannah Shields can be reached at 758-4439 or [email protected].  

    Eighth-grade student Madelyn Lee displays the results of her experiment on fingerprint dusts at the annual Flathead County Science Fair at Glacier Gateway Elementary on March 5, 2026. (Hannah Shields/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    

    Tom Ritzdorf, from Flathead Steam Alliance, judges a science project at the Flathead County Science Fair at Glacier Gateway Elementary on March 5. (Hannah Shields/Daily Inter Lake)