SCIENCE

ate an experiment to test the hypothesis and explain their results and conclusions. ey also are judged on how well their presentations are presented and their creativity. And creative they were. Students created projects in a host of science and engineering areas from botany, zoology and structures to chemistry, health and physics. ey learned about how climate change a ects plants, which herbs grow fastest, how high a baking soda rocket ies as more vinegar is added, what would happen if a jacket was made out of blubber, what happens to a person’s blood-oxygen level as the altitude increases, which nail polish dries the fastest and more. ere were projects for everyone to learn from, and the judges saw that, too.

Christy Herron, a nurse who moved to Evergreen from Indiana on March 1, said judging the projects brought back memories of other science fairs she participated in, and she loved helping out in her new community.

“I love learning,” she said as she moved from project to project, reading the documentation and looking at the graphs explaining the ndings.

Frank Turina, who retired from the National Park Service, said the projects were interesting.

“ ey really gave the research, design, data and conclusions some thought,” he said. “For elementary school level projects, they are very impressive.”

Elizabeth Braddock said she was looking for students not just to follow the scienti c process but to use some creativity in their topic choice and information presentation.

“Honestly,” Braddock said, “I enjoy all of the projects.”

BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Af ter more than 20 years of collecting pinball machines, Dan Nikolich’s basement had run out of space to store them all. So Nikolich opened the Colorado Pinball Pub in Littleton to share his collection.

“Pinball is a unique thing because it doesn’t matter what your background or walk of life is, pinball will draw you in,” he said. “It’s a great equalizer because it only takes one ball.”

While the concept of offering drinks and games at one location is nothing new, the Denver area is host to a number of unique takes on the Dave and Buster’s business model.

Colorado Pinball Pub is one of the newer additions to the barcade scene, having opened in 2020. The pub offers 22 pinball machines, plus a few classic arcade games like PacMan and Centipede, for unlimited play for $15 per hour.

Nikolich’s love for games started young, when he was growing up in Las Vegas and working for the MGM Arcade, so he was happy to see the recent rise in pinball’s popularity.

“Pinball is having a great resurgence right now. The last few years it’s been really hot,” he said. “We have parents who will bring their kids who have never played pinball and, at night, we get a lot of adults and date nights, stuff like that. All people seem to like pinball.”

Like the pub’s patrons, the pinball machines available range in age and theme, with Nikolich’s oldest machine being from 1981. The walls of the pub also pay homage to the history of the game, including its prohibition from 1940s to the 1970s, with pictures and news clippings.

In addition to pinball, the pub features over 150 kinds of whiskey, craft cocktails and Colorado brewed beer.

Nikolich said the goal is to have something for everyone and to make it approachable, whether that’s pinball or whiskey.

“We want you to come and learn about it and not be intimidated to ask if you don’t know something, we want to teach you, so that you can enjoy something new,” he said.

On the opposite side of the metro area, another