“I just wanted to see how it would work,” said Ryan Wickham, talking to The Reporter about his wind turbine model. Perhaps without realizing it the fourth grade Cascade Ridge Elementary student had described just why people have for hundreds of years been drawn to what we now call science – which is really just a better understanding of our world and all the elements in it.

Last week, Ryan and many of his Cascade Ridge school friends were doing some scientific exploring of their own, as the school hosted its annual science fair. On Thursday afternoon, the gymnasium was packed with their displays of learning and examination – from wired-up lemons to galactic rocks and the miraculous process of photosynthesis.

Teams of parent volunteers in studious-looking white lab coats interviewed the students about their projects. Among them was Rajeev Goel, a parent who recently developed a tool to make it easier for schools to host science fairs.

When Goel first became involved in staging the Cascade Ridge science fair in 2009, he had little idea of what to expect.

His background was in Web development, not science, or even organizing school events. But soon he came to realize he had plenty to offer not only his own school’s science fair team, but also science fair organizers all over America.

“The one thing that struck me was everything was still being done with paper – the flyers, the forms. It was very manual,” he said.

Letting his professional inclinations come to the fore, Goel could see an opportunity to revolutionize the way science fairs are run.

“Why don’t I bring the school into the 21st century?” he thought. “I’ll bring everything online.”

Goel built a Web site, where students could register, teachers could keep track of what was happening, participants could upload photos, and even order art supplies, all without any paperwork or additional labor for school staff, volunteers and parents.

That year, Goel’s new online system changed the organization of events at Cascade Ridge forever. And people liked what they saw.

“We got a lot of positive feedback,” he said.

So that summer, Goel took what he did for Cascade Ridge and developed a free web blueprint that other schools could use to run their science fairs – oursciencefair.com.

Savvy, colorful, and easy to use, Goel’s Web site is a big hit, and has been adopted by a number of local schools including Challenger, Briarwood, Clark and Cougar Ridge elementary schools, as well as schools in Maine and New Jersey.

“Besides making the whole process easier and more convenient for the parents, this new system also saved me and our PTSA loads of time and money,” Goel said.

The new Web site also helps schools reduce how much paper they use. And by taking care of the sometimes tedious and difficult tasks involved in running a science fair, Goel has made it possible for teachers, parents and students to concentrate more on the science and less on the administration.

At Cascade Ridge, participation in the science fair is compulsory for students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades. But judging from the amount of terrific entries from younger students, who didn’t have to complete a project, the effort of Goel, and all the science fair organizers, to encourage students to hold a microscope up to the wonders of our world is paying dividends.