Abstracts
4861
Study Comparing Bacterial Levels Present on a Kitchen Sponge, a Game Controller and a Toilet Seat Aidan Nevens and D. Shah (teacher) Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
This study tests a toilet seat, a game controller and a kitchen sponge for the presence and quantity of bacteria growing on their surfaces. Three cotton swabs were rubbed across each object and then rubbed on the surfaces of nutrient agar medium in petri dishes. Then the dishes were incubated for a week. The kitchen sponge was shown to contain significantly more bacteria than the game controller and toilet seat. A second trial was conducted to confirm the findings in the first test and a set of control petri dishes was added to confirm the bacteria came from the swabbed objects.
4864
Effects of Orange Juice and Vinegar on the Rust of Iron Nails Alexander Gasman and D. Shah (teacher) Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
This study examined the effects that orange juice and vinegar had on the rust of iron nails. Iron nails were submerged in either orange juice or vinegar for five days. This test was repeated three times. Orange juice removed rust at an average of 45% on the second day, 80% on the third day and 100% on the fourth. Vinegar removed rust at an average of 25% on the second day, 55% on the third day, 80% on the fourth day and 100% on the final day. The results are that orange juice is the best remover of rust from iron nails. 4865
4862
See Which Pond Has the Most Planaria Alex Rajabi and D. Shah (teacher) Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
This study was to see how much planaria you could catch in a lake. A piece of raw chicken liver was put into a nylon stocking and was fished with in three lakes. Each experiment was repeated four times. In the experiment I went to three lakes: Lake Balboa, Lake Lindero and Lees Lake. The results were that in the four tries for the experiment, at Lake Balboa, altogether 62 planaria were caught. At Lees Lake 41 planaria were caught. For Lake Lindero, 66 planaria were caught. The conclusion is that the lake with the greatest number of planaria is Lake Lindero and the lake with the fewest number of planaria is Lees Lake. 4863
The Effects of Weight on Model Suspension and Beam Bridges Alex Milio and D. Shah (teacher)
Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
The study that has been attempted is an experiment that will show what type of bridge, out of two different types, is the best at standing up to weight. The two bridges that will be tested are suspension and beam bridges, seeing as they are the most used types of bridges in the United States. In the experiment, model beam and suspension bridges were subjected to as many bricks as they could carry. The strongest bridge would be determined by how many bricks each could hold until it broke. When the experiment was repeated, the common winner was the suspension bridge, with a grand total of 21 bricks, vs. 17 bricks as the maximum on the beam bridge. Therefore, the best bridge that should be used is the suspension bridge.
The Flavor of Gum That Lasts the Longest Allixandra Harrison and D. Shah (teacher) Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
This experiment questioned which flavor of gum lasts the longest out of green apple, strawberry, cinnamon, mint, juicy fruit, citrus to mint, apple with citrus, tropical, mint chocolate chip, and bubble gum. The gum chewer chewed each type of gum separately, and in between each, waited a few minutes to cleanse the palate. The results were that the cinnamon-flavored gum lasted the longest and the green apple-flavored gum lasted the least amount of time. 4866
Difference of Genders in Identifying Real and Fake Smiles Angel Diaz and D. Shah (teacher)
Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
This study examined whether males or females were better at identifying real or fake smiles. Subjects of both genders were tested on an Internet test and the percentages were recorded. Each experiment was repeated three times. Males had an average of identifying between real and fake smiles 60% of the time. Females had an average of identifying between real and fake smiles 63% of the time. The results suggest that females are more likely of the genders to identify more real and fake smiles. 4867
The Effectiveness of Different Toothpastes on Eggshells Ariana Hansen and D. Shah (teacher) Portola Highly Gifted Magnet Center 18720 Linnet St. Tarzana, CA 91356
This experiment examined the question of which toothpastes’ whitening claims were real. The toothpastes that were used were Arm & Hammer Complete Care Toothpaste Extra Whitening, Aquafresh Whitening Toothpaste Ultimate White, Crest Whitening Toothpaste Plus Scope and Crest Pro-Health Clean Mint. Each eggshell was left in Coke, coffee or soy sauce for 70 minutes. There were two eggshells for each substance, resulting in six eggshells total. Then the eggshells were taken out and brushed for 1 minute. This experiment was repeated two times. The results were that Arm & Hammer had a score of 3.5, Aquafresh had a score of 3, Crest Whitening had a score of 3 and Crest Pro-Health had a score of 2.5. This means that Arm & Hammer Complete Care Toothpaste Extra Whitening was the most effective in whitening the eggshells. 18
California State University, Northridge & Van Nuys Airport