The Season Of Science Fairs Has Arrived

By Laurie Borst

Stop by your local teacher supply store and you will find tri-fold presentation boards in short supply. That is because students in three Newtown schools have been researching problems, gathering data, analyzing the data, and putting that data into presentable format. The tri-fold boards are typical of science fair presentations.

Students from Newtown High School, Newtown Middle School, and St Rose Parochial School all had respectable showings at Connecticut science fairs over the past few weeks.

 

St Rose School

Seventh and eighth graders from St Rose School earned a number of accolades at the Science Horizons Fair held at Ridgefield High School, March 9–11.

Five students placed as finalists in the Junior Biological category: Alexandra Hamar, John Imbimbo, Johnny Kerins, Brittany Martens, and Matt Ryan.

Three students were finalists in the Junior Physical category: Colleen Cunningham, Ryan O’Keefe, and David Tortora.

David Tortora earned second place in the Junior Physical group for his research, Phishing for pH. He received a Quinnipiac University cash award and he advances to the State Competition. David also was the winner of the Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge and will have the opportunity to compete nationally in Washington, D.C.

John Imbimbo received an award from the United States Navy, Department of Naval Research. Emily Marussich earned a certificate from the American Meteorological Society.

St Rose science teacher Marde Dimon facilitated the students’ participation. Also helping prepare the students were teachers Eileen Kirk, Ryan Woodcock, Linda Cunningham, Lisa Spina, and Sam Kohler, as well as Principal Mary Maloney.

Newtown Middle School

Newtown Middle School was also represented at the Science Horizons Fair in Ridgefield. Representing the middle school at the fair were Emily Floros, Erica Green, Samantha Mancini, Jesssica McDonald, Paige Olson, Brittany Soucar, Monica Tedla, and Jocelyn Toll.

Two of this group earned finalist spots. Paige Olson was honored for her project, “Java for Plants: Myth or Mistake?” Finalist Jocelyn Toll placed third for her work, “The Effect of Phosphate on Algea.” Jocelyn won awards from the Discovery Young Scientist Challenge and the United States Navy/United States Marine Corps.

Newtown High School

Newtown High School had a number of students participate in several science fairs. Science fair season kicked off for the high schoolers Wednesday, February 28, with the Second Annual Science Symposium. This symposium showcased the work of students in Frank LaBanca’s Applied Science Research Program.

Students presented the results of the projects they have been conducting over the past year in an oral presentation format. Students spoke for up to 12 minutes and then had a question and answer session after. Projects ranged across the science and engineering disciplines.

The next day, two of these students attended Science Horizons, Inc hosted by Western Connecticut State University. Rebecca Reed placed second in her session for her project, “Neural Network Language Translation.” Her project focused on developing an artificial intelligence computer capable of detecting pictures and translating them into multiple languages.

Drew Taylor placed first in his session for his work, “Simulation and Fabrication of a Novel Metamaterial in the Near Infrared Wavelength.” Drew’s project seeks to develop a material that is capable of bending electromagnetic waves that might be able to provide a novel cloaking technology that has applications in national security. He was awarded a $1,000 scholarship.

The Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS), held March 4–5 at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, saw Drew honored once again. He was in the top five oral presenters at the symposium. As a top finisher, Drew was awarded a trip to the US Army, Navy, Air Force-sponsored 45th National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Huntsville, Ala.

Maricate Conlon was honored as the top poster presenter for her research, “The Bacterial Degradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls Using Pseudomonas Grown on Biosep Beads.” Maricate’s work looks at using bacteria to clean up PCB contamination in local rivers.

At the Science Horizons Fair in Ridgefield, Rebecca Reed took first place in physical science while Dayton Horvath took second in that category. Crystal Young was a finalist.

The Connecticut Science Fair was held March 13–17 at Quinnipiac University in Hamden. NHS students’ saw a number of their projects honored.

Ivan Virovets, Allison Conley, and Drew Taylor earned finalist spots for their research works titled “The Effects of Ultrafast High Voltage Pulses on Cancer Cells,” “Analyzing the Genetic Traits of Invasive Species,” and “The Fabrication and Testing of a Novel Metamaterial,” respectively.

Matthew Berk was a finalist in the energy division for “The Production and Efficiency of Biodiesel from Canola Oil.” Wesley Hood took third place in the energy division, receiving a United Technologies Corp prize, for his work, “Design and Application of an Electrically Assisted Microbial Fuel Cell.”

Rebecca Reed’s “Neural Network Language Translation” research made her a computer science finalist. She won a $20,000 scholarship to Quinnipiac and six shares of United Technology stock, along with a special award.

Dayton Horvath garnered first place in the Applied Technology division and second place in Physical Science. He has earned a bid to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair to held in Albuquerque, N.M., in May.

Dayton’s research paper is “A Novel, Rapid, Inexpensive Coliform Detection System.” He developed a method to determine if environmental samples contain harmful bacteria. Escherichia coli has been in the news a lot lately, the culprit recent food contamination events.

To confirm E. coli contamination, cultures are grown and then analyzed, a process taking more than 24 hours. The Department of Bioengineering of the Tokyo Institute of Technology has developed a bacteriophage, or bacteria-infecting virus, which can carry the gene for Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) into the E. coli nuclei. When exposed to the proper light, the E. coli will glow green.

Dayton constructed a fluorimeter that detects the presence of the GFP in a couple of hours, speeding up confirmation of the bacteria, and therefore, treatment of those infected.