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Science Fair - Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………… Science Fair Event…………………………………………………………………………………………… Science Fair Judges…………………………………………………………………………………………. Prize Winners…………………………………………………………………………………………………. Upper School…………………………………………………………………………………………………
1st Place: Jack Falconer (9th): Brachistochrome (Mathematics) 2nd Place: Kieran Walter-Sundaram (10th): Sharing on Sunshine (System Software) 3rd Place: Savanna Capdeville and Ariel Sutherland (10th): Diverse-TV (Behavioral/Social Sciences)
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Middle School……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 22 1st Place: Maddie Cohen and Frances Falcon (8th): Bias By Us (Behavior) 2nd Place: Tsehai Alfred (7th): Sweet Attractions (Animal Behavior) 3rd Place: Aleah Mann (8th): Fresh Breath, Fresh Mind (Behavior)
Student Projects 12th Graders………………………………………………………………………………….……………… 44 Jada Romer: The Effects of Magnesium Chloride on the Lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster (Animal Science)**
10th Graders………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 46 Grant Abbot: Change in Long-Term Exposure (Physics/Astronomy) Stephen Bannis: Soil Moisture Sensor (Engineering Mechanics) Kelsey Bhola and Carolyn Grimm: First Aid App for the Caribbean (System Software) Nbiko Bowry: Avoid the Gutter! (Physics) Zackary Bozzo: Is Taste Really Affected by Smell? (Biochemistry) Layla Bradshaw: It’s Teen Nature (Behavioral/Social Sciences) Nathaniel Camacho: Building an Electric Motor (Material Sciences) Donny Capdeville: Password Hacking (System Software)** Doug Capdeville: Golf Strokes (Physics/Astronomy) Gabe Capdeville: Why Teens are Stressed Out (Behavioral/Social Sciences) Miko Dizon-Bumann: Tantan Blow Up (Earth/Environmental Sciences) Nyama Gibbs: Roof Strong (Material Sciences)** Kanai Hodge: Ball Side and Free Throw (Physics/Astronomy) Gus Johnson: Free Throw Science Experiment (Biochemistry) Liam Kier: UV and Bacteria (Microbiology) Quincy King and Carlos Van Gurp: Shoe-per Heroes (Chemistry) Lucy Klempen: Regrowth After Hurricane (Environmental Engineering) Sean Low and Ashton Patalidis: Paper Airplane Range (Physics/Astronomy) Andre McIntosh: Taste and Personality (Behavioral/Social Sciences) Larissa Sweeney: Larvae Lockdown (Animal Science)
9th Graders……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 51 Saba Alfred: Cell Phone Heat (Physics/Astronomy) Molly Brownsdon: Sea-O2 (Earth/Environmental Sciences)** Josie Calhoon and Hanan Hamed: The Breeze in the Trees (Plant Sciences)** Mathieu Dale: Hydro-Era (Plant Sciences) Tea Desmond and Roxy Wallace: Oobleck Potholes (Physics/Astronomy) Arissa Etienne: The Unknown Direction (Physics/Astronomy)** Alessandra Evangelista: Investigating Thermocline Driver (Earth/Environmental Sciences)** Dilani Frorup: 02 is the Go 2 (Chemistry)**
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Mariam Hamed: Facing the Facts (Behavioral/Social Sciences)** Naurani Persaud: Alternative Water Filtration (Material Sciences) Anaijah Peters: Conduction and Ions (Chemistry)
8th Graders…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 55 Ally Bhola: Phantom Sensations (Behavior) Christopher Cawley: All About Bacteria (Microbiology) Sydney Cornwall and Imani Persaud: Filter It (Microbiology) Aiden DaCosta and Melvyn Fox: Help or Harm? (Plant Science) Mikey Dizon: Beat the Heat (Biomedical/Health) Uchenna Ferris: A Fruity Background (Chemistry) Elyssa Franklin: Peppermint (Behavior) Hakeem Hamed and Amirah Yusuf: What’s in the Bag? (Plant Science) Opher Hasson: Coral Bleaching (Environmental Science) Malik John: Music Improvement (Behavior) D’avian Lewis-Flynn: Reward vs. Punishment (Behavior) Makari Matthew: Sand vs. Peat in Drainage (Earth Science) Billy Medina: Juice Bacteria (Microbiology) Carson Oakley: Waste in the Waves (Environmental Science) Ava Patalidis: Squid Jet (Engineering)** Shana Sargeant: Shhh… (Behavior) Jenny Turk: Build ‘n Boil (Physics)**
7th Graders…………………………………………………………………………………………………… Wesley Birdsall: Desalination – Solar vs. Stovetop (Environmental Science) Necha Bishop: Homemade Paper (Materials) Wyatt Bracy: Illusion Confusion (Behavior) Jean Jacques Dongar: Cell Phone Addiction (Behavior) Luca Forno D’Adamo: Five Second Rule: Fact or Fiction? (Microbiology) Khalil Francis: Decomposition (Materials) J.J. Klempen: One Day This Can Save Your Life (Environmental Science) Justice Lawrence: Do You Know What You’re Drinking? (Microbiology) Khang Le: Turn On! (Physics) Milo Miller: So You Want a Solar Fridge? (Physics) Emily Mohammed: Ant Traffic Signals (Animal Behavior) Jasmin Nieves: The Art of Ballet (Behavior)** Anil Prasad and Addison Purdome: Solar vs. Wind (Environmental Science/Physics) Alex Tonin: Bacteria Counts Inside and Outside Reef (Microbiology)
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6th Graders…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 65
Armani Anderson: How does time affect the speed of cooking different items in a solar oven? Michael Atwell and Ian Birdsall: What are the effects of drag on a Magnetic Linear Accelerator? Sam Chardon and Finn Miller: Does the condition of the football or wearing gloves affect how well you catch the football? Emma Craft and Abriella Messier: Salt vs. Ice Joey Croney and Tyler Jones: Which type of boat material can hold more weight? Kaiden Deller and Joshua Rodgers: Which type of water is the most pure? Evan Dykstra: Sponges vs. Acid Jahkeil Edmunds: What is the effect of different amounts of dry ice on a bubble? Lily Falconer and Maya Hopkins: How does plastic tightness on bananas affect their ripening? Aiden Fitzgerald and Nate Roth: Which soda has the most sugar after it has been boiled? Che Guerra and Kai Hutchins: How does microwave radiation affect the growth of tomatoes? Jayden James: Which type of liquid disintegrates an eggshell the fastest? Tyler Franks: What material of bats hits the farthest?
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Stuart Lewis: How well do different materials fluidize? Lianna Medina: What color do bees like best? Will bees change their favorite color? Ken Minten and Dylan Pauly-Beckstedt: Bacteria Eavenni Persaud and Victoria Sperber: What is the effect of the length of fire exposure on an object’s time to burn? Ronel Schjang: What is the effect of different homemade light bulbs on a battery-powered circuit? Andrew Thompson: How do different liquids affect Orbeez growth? Nick Turk: How does being in paper towels, soil, or underwater affect the germination of tomatoes?
5th Graders……………………………………………………………………………………………………………71
Tuleen Al-Khaled: Color Test! Which age is best? Mia Benton-Huggins and Marty Gant: Pork vs. Beef Gelatin Nico Forno D’Adamo and Cole Summer: Hungry, Hungry Lizards Sierra Franklin and Priya Mittal: Strawberries and Grapes in Challenging Environments Morgan Garner: No WAPA, No Worries Kaeden Gleason: Geodesic Dome – Strong or Not? Salma Hamed and Savanna Holley: Fizzy Memory Jeremiah Joines: Speedy Gravity Kirra Lambert: Hurricane Coming, Time to Filter Water Mason Lambert: Sorbents… Materials… Oil? Nathan Langley: The Ultimate Weight Lifting Contest ** Indicates special recognition
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Introduction Develop a new method for filling potholes? Create optimal propulsion through water? Identify racial biases on television? These are just some of the many ways GHCDS students have immersed themselves in science and engineering as they prepare to become innovators who, as our mission indicates, will be empowered to better their island and the world!
Science Fair at GHCDS provides students with a wonderful opportunity to pursue an independent science project of their choice, spark their curiosity with real-world experimentation and data collection, work with a mentor, and develop critical thinking, writing, research, and presentation skills. All students in grades 5-10 complete a Science Fair project, though the Fair is open to older students as well. Science Fair projects must include the following: • Abstract • Hypothesis • Introduction • Procedure • Materials • Results • Graphs • Conclusion
Winners of the event travel to and participate in the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the United States. In 2018, Intel ISEF will take place in Pittsburgh in May. Projects fall into the following categories: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Animal Sciences Behavioral/Social Sciences Biochemistry Biomedical/Health Sciences Biomedical Engineering Cellular/Molecular Biology Chemistry Computational Biology/Bioinformatics Earth/Environmental Sciences Embedded Systems Energy: Chemistry Energy: Physical Engineering Mechanics Environmental Engineering Material Sciences Mathematics Microbiology Physics/Astronomy Plant Sciences Robotics/Intelligent Machines System Software Translational Medical Science
This year’s Science Fair Team included Jane Coles, lower and middle school science teacher and long-time Science Fair coordinator; Laurie Dunton, upper school biology, marine biology, and forensics teacher; and Dr. Jeff Turk, the new upper school Science Fair coordinator and former NASA scientist.
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Science Fair Event In 2018, GHCDS held two separate Science Fair events in the pavilion: the Upper School (Grades 9-12) Science Fair January 24-26 featuring over 30 projects and the Middle and Intermediate School (Grades 5-8) January 31-February 1 featuring over 60 projects. Judges evaluated the projects using a standard ISEF rubric, invited the top 10 students to make presentations, then announced their awards. Students from GHCDS as well as other schools were invited to view the projects. All special awards were announced at an award ceremony. This year’s Science Fair also included several interactive stations where students could: • Investigate the Magnes effect with paper airplanes • Levitate objects with static electricity • Optimize water rocket launches for distance
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Science Fair Judges Distinguished experts in the scientific community on St. Croix generously volunteered to serve as judges in the Science Fair competition. The judges for the 2018 event included the following: Upper School: • Don Bailey, Research Specialist, UVI-AES • Olasee Davis, UVI Extension Specialist • Dr. Amy Dreaves, Pest Management Specialist, UVI Extension • Vanessa Forbes, UVI Extension Specialist • Dr. Jeanne Garner, WIMARCS • Steve Garner, TropiTech Solutions • Dr. Bob Godfrey, Director of Animal Sciences, UVI-AES
Middle School • Don Bailey, Research Specialist, UVI-AES • Dr. Valecia Burke-France • Olasee Davis, UVI Extension Specialist • Dr. Amy Dreaves, Pest Management Specialist, UVI Extension • Vanessa Forbes, UVI Extension Specialist • Kemit-Amon Lewis, The Nature Conservancy
Grades 5-6: • David Brownstein, Leatherback Brewing • Sarah Dahl-Smith, UVI Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development • Sara Dykstra • Dr. Jeanne Garner, WIMARCS • Mike Hunter • Claudia Lombard, US Fish and Wildlife Services • Dr. Jeff Turk, GHCDS
Special: • Suenita Banwaree, GHCDS Art Department • Maurice Barrant, GHCDS Technology Department • Jean Bishop, GHCDS Art Department • Dr. Wayne Ethridge, Clinical Psychologist, Island Therapy Solutions • Chelcie Goldman, Occupational Therapist, Island Therapy Solutions • Aaron Hutchins, Environmental Consultant
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Prize Winners The following student projects received special recognition in the 2018 Science Fair: Upper School • 1st Place Overall – Jack Falconer (9th), The Brachistochrone Curve • 2nd Place Overall – Kieran Walter-Sundaram (10th), Sharing on Sunshine • 3rd Place Overall – Savanna Capdeville and Ariel Sutherland (10th), Diverse TV • Honorable Mention – Donny Capdeville (10th), Password Hacking • Honorable Mention – Josie Calhoon and Hanan Hamed (9th), The Breeze in the Trees • Honorable Mention, Stockholm Junior Water Prize - Molly Brownsdon (10th), Sea O2 •
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Stupendous Science Award, US Metric Association Award – Jade Romer (12th), The Effects of Magnesium Chloride concentration on the lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster American Psychological Association Award, Association of Virgin Island Psychologists Award – Savanna Capdeville and Ariel Sutherland (10th), Diverse TV Association of Virgin Island Psychologists Award – Mariam Hamed (9th), Facing the Facts NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award, Stockholm Junior Water Prize – Dilani Frorup (9th), O2 is the Go 2 Phyllis Biddle Memorial Aesthetic Award, Stockholm Junior Water Prize, Association for Women Geosciences, NASA Earth System Science Award – Alessandra Evangelista (9th), Investigating Thermocline Driver Yale Science and Engineering – Nyama Gibbs (10th), Roof Strong American Meteorological Society Award – Arissa Etienne (9th), The Unknown Direction
Middle School • 1st Place Overall – Maddie Cohen and Francis Falcon (8th), Bias By Us • 2nd Place Overall – Tsehai Alfred (8th), Sweet Attraction • 3rd Place Overall – Aleah Mann (8th), Fresh Breath, Fresh Mind • Honorable Mention – Billy Medina (8th), What’s in Your Juice? • Honorable Mention – Khalil Francis (8th), How Plastic Degrades Over Time • • •
Art Award – Jasmine Nieves (7th), The Art of Ballet Art Award, Air Force Award – Ava Patalidis (8th), Squid Jet Art Award – Jenny Turk (8th), Build ‘n Boil
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
Upper School Top Prize Projects
1st Place Prize Project: The Brachistrone Curve Student: Jack Falconer (9th)
Abstract My hypothesis was that the Brachistochrone is at least 10% faster than the straight path and that the relationship between the Brachistochrone and its length is exponential. To test this I made two parts. In Part A, I made a marble race between the Brachistochrone, straight path, and the extreme curve to measure the time difference. I'm part B, I made three different sized Brachistochrone curves and measured their times. My results were that the Brachistochrone was 30% faster than the straight path and that the relationship between the Brachistochrone and its length was linear. This means that half of my hypothesis was correct when I said that the Brachistochrone would be at least 10% faster and half was wrong when I said that the relationship would be exponential. Introduction The Brachistochrone Curve is the fastest gravitational curve between two points. For my Science Fair project, I will be testing the Brachistochrone to see how much faster it is than other paths, as well as testing if the relationship between the length and time is linear or exponential. The Brachistochrone is a very interesting topic and has many undiscovered factors that I would like to investigate and hopefully make an impact on the scientific community today.

The Brachistochrone problem was first discovered by Galileo. He believed that the fastest path between two points using gravity was an arc of a circle, but he was incorrect. Johann Bernoulli was the first to solve the problem correctly. He used Snells Law, which states that light always takes the fastest path when refracting, to solve the problem. (Snellius 1621) Bernoulli lined up materials in which light would travel faster and faster through from left to right. Let's say that you want to travel from Point A in mud diagonally to Point B on pavement. (Stevens 2017) You know that you travel faster on pavement then mud, so you want to take the shortest path through mud without having too long of a path on pavement. Light does this at all times as described by Snells Law. So if you line up more and more layers that light travels faster and faster through,
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you get a curve called the Brachistochrone or Greek for “shortest time�. After Johann Bernoulli discovered this shape, he realized it was also a cycloid. A cycloid is a shape traced by a point on a rolling circle. When rolling a shape that is not a circle, the path drawn is a roulette. After Bernoulli solved this problem, he challenged Isaac Newton to solve it. Newton, angry because he was challenged by someone he thought was lower than him, solved it in just one night when it took Bernoulli 2 weeks. All of this happened over 300 years ago and we still have no real life uses for the Brachistochrone. Brachistochrone curves are only found in a few museums and are not found in any real world structures. This is what I want to change. There are many real world applications for the Brachistochrone. They could be used not only for entertainment, but also to make our everyday lives more efficient.
For my experiment, I will build a rig that compares a straight path, a very exaggerated curve, and the Brachistochrone. I will trace the Brachistochrone as the cycloid of a circle. I will do this by cutting out a circle with a diameter equal to the wanted height of 2 feet. The length will be approximately the height multiplied by 1.5. After cutting out the circle from thick poster board, I will roll it against a piece of plywood so that one point on the circle draws on the piece of wood. I will then use this curve as a guide to build the Brachistochrone of metal pipe. Each of the paths will be made of metal pipe, bent into the correct shapes, and supported by a wooden frame. The three paths will be side by side so I can roll marbles down them to compare the speeds. After the rig is built, I will then time each individual track by filming it on slow motion on my phone. Slow motion on an iPhone is filmed at 240 frames per second and played back at 30 or 8 times less. So after I take the video, I will use a stopwatch to record the time on the video, take that time and divide it by 8. This will give me an accurate time of each track so I can calculate how much faster one is than another. After I finish all the data from the original race, I will then build two other Brachistochrone curves that are different sizes from the first. The original one is two feet tall, the next will be one foot tall, and the last will be three. After recording the times of these the same way as the original, I can then determine if the time based on the length is linear or exponential. After my experimentation, I will do my calculations and put all of my data together expressed in graphs or other means of data. This information should supply me with the means of explaining the Brachistochrone to others in a more interesting and educated way. There are no records that I have found with accounts of this information that I will test. I hope that soon I can express my information to others through a website or some other presentation. The data I collected varied across the days I spent experimenting. For Part A, I found that the Straight Path took .8125 seconds and the Brachistochrone took .625 seconds. For Part B, the one foot Brachistochrone took .5 seconds, the two foot tall track took .6625 seconds, and the three foot track took .825 seconds.
This data points to the following results. In Part A, I tested the times on all of the paths. The true meaning behind this experiment is to prove how the Brachistochrone is faster than the usual paths we use today. The time of the Brachistochrone was .625 seconds and the straight path (shortest path) was .8125 seconds. This means that the Brachistochrone is 30% faster than the straight path and supports my hypothesis when I said that the Brachistochrone would be at least 10% faster than the straight. In Part B, I tested the relationship between the length of the Brachistochrone and the time of the object. For the test I build 3 different sized Brachistochrone curves and tested the time. On my first set of tests, I used a plastic bead. This messed up my results, by putting air resistance into play with time. To fix this, in my next set of tests I used a bb. This changed the results. The truth is that the relationship is linear.
My hypothesis is that the Brachistochrone will be at least 10% faster than the straight line and that the relation between the length and time is exponential. My data supports this in some areas and denies my hypothesis. My results were that the straight path took .825 and the Brachistochrone took .6825 seconds. The relationship between the Brachistochrone and the length is linear.
For Part A, through my testing I found that the Brachistochrone was actually about 30% faster than the straight path. This proved me correct when at the same time surprised me. The Brachistochrone was actually much faster than what I first expected, yet when I bent the pipe, I used a pipe bender and it warped the tube in a direction I didn't intend. If I had used more proper tools and spent more time, I could have found an even bigger gap between the two paths. For Part B, finding the answer was much harder. At first, I used a plastic bead. This swayed my results by putting air resistance into play. Because terminal velocity occurs when weight is equal to drag, the bead actually hit its terminal velocity on the 3 foot track and made my results differ. So, I decided to use a ball bearing. After
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testing, I found that the relationship between the size and the time was linear. The equation for this is y = 13/80 X + 27/80. This equation is the same until the ball bearing reaches a terminal velocity of about 97 mph.
If I were to redo my project in the future, I would change a few things. First, I would bend the pipe in Part A correctly without warping it. I could have done this with a commercial grade pipe bender, yet I didn't own one. Next, I should have used a clear pipe in Part A, this would have made my project more visual. Next, If possible, it would be a great experiment to do all of this in a vacuum, this would put air resistance out of play. Finally, though I do wish I used the ball bearing the first time in Part B, it did teach me a few things I didn't think about before I started test, so I'm glad I messed up. But in the future I won't make that mistake. Bibliography
 Hall, N. (Ed.). (2015, May 5). Drag of a Sphere. Retrieved December 18, 2017, from https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/dragsphere.html
M., Stevens. (2017, January 21). The Brachistochrone. Retrieved December 18, 2017, from https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=skvnj67YGmw
Neumann, E. (2017, September 11). Brachistochrone. Retrieved December 18, 2017, from https://www.myphysicslab.com/roller/brachistochrone-en.html
Qawasmi, A. (2007, January 1). The National Curve Bank: The Brachistochrone . Retrieved December 18, 2017, from http://web.calstatela.edu/curvebank/brach/brach.htm Weisstein, Eric W. "Brachistochrone Problem." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/BrachistochroneProblem.htm
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2nd Place Prize Project: Sharing on Sunshine Student: Kieran Walter-Sundaram (10th)
Abstract Hurricanes Irma and Maria (September 2017), caused catastrophic damage to the basic communication and power grids in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). After living through these events and experiencing the yet still unraveling aftermath, I decided to work on self-powered sustainable communication relays, to extend existing networks, and power internet capable devices; to solve communication issues for a variety of scenarios such as post natural disasters. A self-powered system was designed to provide such communication to areas with failed power infrastructure. I decided to research into solar powered IEEE 802.11x (trademarked as Wi-Fi) mesh networks, and build a self-powered Wi-Fi extender of established Wi-Fi networks to increase ground coverage in areas that don’t have a power supply. It was recognized that there was an opportunity to construct a system from materials both pre-existing and scavenged such as using working solar cells from broken panels from after the storm, and integrating a battery storage solution for the required electrical power. Reused solar cells could provide enough power to charge the storage battery, provide the Wi-Fi extender with constant power, and charge community members’ internet devices such as cellphones during all hours. Through testing I concluded that mesh networks can be a potential solution; giving local network connectivity without requiring external power during disruption of services. In times of need, it can be very beneficial to maintain network connectivity for first responders and other units to organize relief efforts. Furthermore, extending a preexisting signal and supplying power may prove to be more useful. Mesh networks require point to point close rage router communication which limits its usefulness if a router drops out of range. I concluded that a self-powered, weatherproof, reliable, mobile charging station/Wi-Fi hub would better serve the people in natural disaster scenarios as well as having a day to day utility and significant benefits. Introduction Two class five hurricanes over nine days hit our now improving tropical paradise. Hundreds of houses lost their roofs and the lack of power will continue to affect us for a long time. These storms damaged Wi-Fi and
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cellular networks, and much more. I proposed to build a self-powered solar powered WiFi network composed of existing and recycled components.
The project’s goal was to produce a solar powered networking device, capable of extending a surviving internet access network without cellular signal that is low cost, mobile, reliable, fast to set up and to take down in anticipation of a future natural disaster. It will be self-contained and weather resistant, allowing people to better communicate between one another in a crisis. In terms of a mesh network, this later could be connected to a Wi-Fi connected area which will allow it to be far more functional in the long term. In addition, creating a smaller Wi-Fi extension device not requiring wired power, could then be used to broaden an existing signal; allowing people to extend their Wi-Fi signal using just solar and battery backup power.
To go about building this device many variables including battery size and energy draw of Wi-Fi extenders were considered. It was necessary to consider how to maintain sufficient power to the battery unit from the solar cells to not only charge, but allow it to run simultaneously, providing for night use. The inverter used in my prototype has an output voltage of 115 volts (v). Given that the input amperage (current drawn from AC power) of the Wi-Fi extender is 0.3 amps, the total amount of power used (wattage) was determined to be 34.5 watts (calculated by multiplying voltage by amperage). Taking into account our 12v system and overall equipment inefficiencies, the total amperage required increases to 3.17 Amps DC. This was an integral part of the project for batteries have limited amp hours, since it was important to size the battery large enough to handle the demand. Solar panels consist of photovoltaic cells, which generate “solar� electricity. Solar modules that consist, at its simplest, of these photovoltaic cells are measured and rated by average direct current (DC) power output. These panels produce up to a certain amount of power, at which point production levels off. Only very few commercial solar panel products can exceed an efficiency of over 22% (Aldous, 2000).
To regulate and limit the rate which electricity is added to a battery storage system through solar cells requires a charge controller. Solar charge controllers prevent overcharging and attempt to counter fluctuations that reduce performance, lifespan, or even safety of the battery. Most solar charge controllers both monitor and display the current solar output voltage, as well as the current battery voltage. 12v batteries should be kept at a float rate of 13.7v and a discharge cut off point of 10.7v, for good maintenance of the battery. These solar charge controllers work by altering the voltage output to the battery and maintaining a constant identified voltage level. Solar has proven to give relatively reliable long term power production. Based on our own solar array installed on our roof in the USVI, the reliability over the course of a year was established. Using the data provided by the Enphase micro inverters on each panel, the average daily production throughout the year was assessed. Solar is a good solution for power in the Virgin Islands since the data showed only rare days with low production rates. The maximum power produced in a single day was about 38.6 kWh during the summer, and minimum lows occurring in the winter months, dropping the power produced to below 20 kWh a day. While there are large fluctuations, if you take an uncommon low such as around 15 kWh and divide it by 24 (the number of panels in the array), than you get 625 watt hours of electricity, which is more than enough to charge the 12v system detailed above.
With global warming becoming a serious problem, the need for the reduction of fossil fuels is becoming more and more urgent. Since the 1950s global temperatures have been on the rise. Now a state of emergency and impending catastrophic changes to the global climate such as rising sea levels, ocean acidification, extreme weather events, and more. Luckily the price of solar has continued to fall (Caughill, 2017). Saving money incentivizes the average consumer to change from non-renewable resources to clean energy, providing an opportunity to enable wider adoption of renewable technologies. In fact many countries are now turning to solar and other forms of clean energy for power (Gillis, 2014). The technology works, and global warming is continuing to affect our planet, so it is important now, more than ever, that we take advantage of clean energy opportunities.
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As solar gets more efficient, and the demand grows, the biggest problem plaguing widespread adoption is battery storage. Battery technology is now one of the major things holding back the clean energy market. The better the battery storage technology gets, the more solar solutions will be adopted. In this project it was determined the more compact the developed unit, the more cost effective and the more “attractive” it will look to consumers. Though running a Wi-Fi router or extender has a minimal draw, it still requires a significantly large battery pack to run it during non-sunlight hours. Companies like Tesla and other manufacturers are trying to produce more cost effective solutions, and develop better storage options. Here in the Virgin Islands companies like VIYA are releasing units that produce a Wi-Fi signal from a cellular network that they have established through connection to cell towers. This means that with better and more compact battery technology you could easily make a portable Wi-Fi unit using a combination of solar and battery backup that would provide Wi-Fi anywhere on island, anytime, for non-cellular devices such as laptops, assuming connectivity to their cellular signal.
Internet connectivity and reliable power sources prove to have many economic and social benefits. Today countries have recognized the importance of internet in furthering the economy and the spread of ideas. Some governments have teamed up with internet providers to bring internet access to the people (Broadband coverage in the US). This builds on our primary necessities, and gives us a wide range of opportunities. Deloitte estimates that “the resulting economic activity could generate $2.2 trillion in additional GDP, a 72% increase in the GDP growth rate, and more than 140 million new jobs” (2014). With internet access, people can be better informed on general health and well-being. In schools kids are already taking advantage of online tests, books, and courses. It allows our voices to be heard, to enact change and to make a difference in supporting democracies. Internet empowers the people, and brings change, helping people make a difference. As more and more people are using smart devices, and connection speeds are more important, steps are being taken to support more people using networks. Companies like Google are deploying satellite network systems for the general public while other service companies are sticking to ground units. For situations like natural disasters and other possible interruptions to the network stability, things like satellite communications prove invaluable. With the lack of power and grid stability, it can take months for systems to come back online. In this case, for places without access to such emerging technologies as satellite communications, then close communications can prove vital. In this case local mesh networks will be able to transmit data within a certain area allowing for off line and other communications not relying on wired networks. Wireless routers allow these mesh networks to act as a local area networking grids, supporting either wireless or wired connections.
Results Grid powered smart home devices which were not connected to the internet were tested for functionality through a Wi-Fi network then retested using a battery backup unit as the sole power source. Both methods showed no differences in capability to transmit data over unconnected local Wi-Fi. Further testing demonstrated the ability to run the battery backup unit from pre-installed solar panels which powered both the unit and the Wi-Fi router. The draw of the router was determined, and size of the battery to maintain power to the unit calculated. Working with a 3.17 amp hours DC draw at minimum, the battery would need to be around 45 amp hours to last over 14 hours of no sunlight. Regarding testing Wi-Fi units in series, just like other Wi-Fi extenders, you can connect multiple units in series to greatly extend the range of communication. The function of these units was unaffected by power sources such as grid or use of solar/battery backup power. For excess power stored in the battery beyond that needed to reliably maintain the extended Wi-Fi network, installing charging solutions for devices such as smartphones to give the unit more functionality was also achieved directly from the charge controller. It was found mesh networks, as well as a Wi-Fi extenders both have very similar power draws and reproduce the same type of signal. For my prototype a WiFi extender together with battery storage and solar charging technology to make a mobile unit that would allow someone to extend a preexisting Wi-Fi signal was created. This paired with, for example, a VIYA 4G LTE Wi-Fi router powered by a solar power supply could be used to make a large remote geographic networked area in which first responders would have communication after a natural disaster. Unlike a mesh network which can be limited on function and use, a mobile extender can be used in a variety of situations. Applications could include for example, extending Wi-Fi communications and power availability for a trailer
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park which lacks power infrastructure, or even extending Wi-Fi and device charging at Good Hope Country Day School (GHCDS) to the lower or upper field, where presently there is no strong Wi-Fi signal or power supply.
Conclusion In conclusion I have established that a self-powered Wi-Fi communication relay can provide needed internet access during an emergency situation where both grid power and internet infrastructure have been damaged. In an emergency it is critical for people to be able to reach first responders and emergency services and get information back about medical, food, water and other critical information. The prototype solar powered WiFi extender developed here, allow for both communication in times of need and the powering of essential devices. After both hurricane Irma and Maria the island had limited locations providing internet access, from for example satellite installations, these can be shared and extended using a unit like the prototype created here. In the future I would like to make an extremely compact version of my prototype that would incorporate a satellite internet service receiver, such as that offered locally by HughesNet, thereby reliably solving internet connectivity problems regardless of the state of local internet service infrastructure. Bibliography Toothman, J., & Aldous, S. (2000, April 01). How Solar Cells Work. Retrieved December 01, 2017, from https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-cell2.htm
"IPCC, Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis – Summary for Policymakers (AR5 WG1)" (PDF). p. 17. It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. Some physical climate system science reviews since IPCC AR4. (2010). TemaNord Physical Climate Science since IPCC AR4, 13-14. doi:10.6027/9789289331470-4-en IAP Statement on Ocean Acidification. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2017, from http://www.interacademies.net/10878/13951.aspx
Ament, P. (1970, January 01). Retrieved December 01, 2017, from http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/battery.htm
Gillis, J. (2014, November 10). Denmark Aims for 100 Percent Renewable Energy. Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/11/science/earth/denmark-aims-for-100-percent-renewableenergy.html Coughill, Solar energy prices continue to plunge while coal prices climb higher. (2017, November 29). Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://futurism.com/solar-energy-prices-continue-plunge-coal-pricesclimb-higher/ Deloitte, (2014), Value of connectivity Economic and social benefits of expanding internet access. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/br/Documents/technology-mediatelecommunications/ValorConectividade.pdf
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3rd Place Prize Project: Diverse-TV Student: Savannah Capdeville and Ariel Sutherland (10th)
Abstract The racial representation in entertainment media today is miniscule. Seeing your race, gender, or sexual orientation tokenized in entertainment media and if you can never identify with the main character(s) or any characters of a TV show or movie may lead you to believe you’re not good enough, or that you’re less important than, say a straight white male. Our research included ten of the popular online or cable television networks: TeenNick, Disney, A&E, TLC, Fox, CBS, ABC, Comedy Central, Netflix, and Hallmark. We researched at least ten select TV shows, not including cartoons, from each TV show network, using shows ranging from the years 1990 to 2017. While researching current and past shows we will be asking ourselves the following questions: Is the network actually diverse or are they just adding the pretense of racial diversity? What’s the ratio of females to male on this show? What's the ratio of race (example: 6 white: 1 black: 1 asian)? What are the average percentages of race per show? (example: 77% white, 21.5% black, 1.5% asian)What are the average percentages of gender per show? In all of our research, we found that 73.39% of all the characters in all of the TV shows in our study were white, 15.36% were black, 4.69% were asian, 6.42% of them were latino, 42.23% were female, and 57.77% were male. The diversity in TV has also steadily increased from the 1980’s to today. In conclusion, our data showed that the TV show networks we researched aren’t very racially diverse, although they did have a lot of diversity in gender. I’d like to continue this project, and expand my data search by researching more shows and comparing this data to other countries. Somethings that could have messed up my data are calculation errors, data size, and inaccuracy in deciding what race an actor is.
Introduction Racial issues are sometimes difficult to discuss. Although, these issues need to be talked about. The racial representation in entertainment media today is miniscule. Although it has improved drastically from the past, the diversity today is still lacking. With a quick glance at most TV shows called “diverse”, you will notice characters of a minority race, however if you look more closely, you may realize that these characters may be token minorities. A token minority is a concept in games, television, movies, and books wherein a single character of a different ethnicity is added to a cast of characters who all share the same--or very similar-ethnic background. “It's often used to add the pretense of diversity to an otherwise homogeneous set of
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character(s).” There is a difference between having a character of a minority race and having a token minority character. A token minority character has limited lines, is not an integral part of the script, and is solely there because of their race. Token minorities can also apply to gender, sexual orientation, etc, and often fall victim to stereotypes. “People of color are often cast in certain roles such as the maid, the gangster, the ‘model minority,’ the supportive best friend, the terrorist…certain races and ethnicities are portrayed more often as lower class individuals in mainstream American media.” Having a character of a minority race as part of a cast is a good thing, but a token minority character makes this good thing the opposite. Seeing your race, gender, or sexual orientation tokenized in entertainment media and if you can never identify with the main character(s) or any characters of a TV show or movie may lead you to believe you’re not good enough, or that you’re less important than, say a straight white male. “Media creates meaning about race and ethnicity, and plays an important role in shaping the way we understand race and ethnicity as part of our identity, our history, our social institutions, and our everyday lives.” The media is very important and needs to be filled with more diversity because it fits into our everyday lives. This project will dive into this uncomfortable topic to find out much of entertainment media is guilty of this practice today and how diverse America is in entertainment media. In the past it is known that minorities have been underrepresented in entertainment media because of racism and other political and socio economic issues. “Our society has made progress in dealing with racial discrimination, but inequality and injustice still remain, and the media is a key site where these ideas persist.” Although there has been improvement with racial and gender diversity in entertainment media, more improvement is necessary. A 2015 study shows that the ratio of white character leads to minority character leads on scripted broadcasts was nearly six to one. The ratio of scripted leads was nearly two to one, and the ratio of both broadcast and cable reality and other show leads was greater than two to one. Compared to the ratio of the white to minority population in the United States, minorities are very underrepresented. Additionally, the ratio of male to female in television media was consistently two to one, showing more underrepresentation. The study also found that white actors dominated the top credits, and that minority and LGBT actors were usually lower-credited. It also showed that in films in 2013 minorities held 16.7% of lead roles. Compared with the fact that in 2013 34.4% of the United States population were minorities, it was clear that minorities were underrepresented in shows or movies having lead roles. For women, 25.3% of lead roles were held by women, and compared to the 52% of woman that made up the US in 2013, this also shows underrepresentation. This highly credible study shows evidence of underrepresentation of minorities in media. Will my data show the same correlation? In another study, by Dr. Laura l. Smith, Marc , and Dr. Pieper, a large amount of white representation, and a small number of minority representation is shown. Data from the top 100 highest grossing films of the year showed that “Just over a quarter (25.9%) of the 3,932 speaking characters evaluated were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. A full 74.1% were White, 14.1% Black, 4.9% Hispanic, 4.4% Asian, 1.1% Middle Eastern, <1% American Indian or Alaskan Native, and 1.2% were from "other" races/ethnicities. No meaningful change.(in data) of any racial/ethnic group on screen in 600 popular films between 2007 and 2013.” Although increased representation is important, it is also key to make sure this representation is realistic. Stereotypes can affect the way viewers think of certain minorities, and stereotypes are very popular when portraying minorities in entertainment media. In a study done by Travis L. Dixon and Daniel Linz about the representations of Blacks, Latinos, and Whites as lawbreakers and law defenders on local Los Angeles and orange country programs, it was found that
“Blacks and Latinos are significantly more likely than Whites to be portrayed as lawbreakers on television news. "Interrole" comparisons (lawbreakers vs. law defenders) revealed that Blacks and Latinos are more likely to be portrayed as lawbreakers than as defenders, whereas Whites are significantly more likely to be portrayed as defenders than as lawbreakers. "Interreality" comparisons of lawbreakers (television news vs. crime reports from the California Department of Justice) revealed that Blacks are overrepresented as lawbreakers, and Latinos and Whites are underrepresented as lawbreakers on television news compared to their respective crime rates obtained from the California Department of Justice for Los Angeles and Orange counties.”
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This research, published in 2000 shows evidence of racial stereotyping in television, and the disproportionate comparison between what is shown on television versus real life. We want to test how often this was true in the past and compare it to the present. To do this my partner and I will choose ten popular television networks. Next will each research ten or more television shows per network to find the data we need. We will be researching current and past shows and be asking ourselves the following questions: Is the network actually diverse or are they just adding the pretense of racial diversity? What’s the ratio of females to male on this show? What's the ratio of race (example: 6 White: 1 Black: 1 Asian)? What are the average percentages of race per show? (Example: 77% white, 21.5% black, 1.5% asian)What are the average percentages of gender per show? The United States prides itself on being a country for the people; all people. Although in comparison to our data will this statement still reign true? This project, although difficult is a quest for the truth. Is the world as of 2017/2018 really as progressive as we think we are—at least through the participant shows in this study? Purpose The purpose of this project is to find out how much gender and racial diversity is in entertainment media today. We chose this project because growing up, we didn’t see many characters, especially in lead roles, which we could identify with by race.
Hypothesis We hypothesize that there will be some, but miniscule diversity in entertainment media today and there will be no shows with a 50:50 or more minority to non-minority ratio. Materials 1. Internet and Device: To search for data. 2. Computer and Printer: To make and print graphs 3. Calculator: To calculate data. 4. Poster: To present information.
Procedure 1. We will choose 10 current TV show networks to research: all being the most popular 2. Next we each choose 5 TV networks each, breaking up the work between partners. 3. Next we will research these TV show networks, collecting data from at least 10 TV shows per network. This data will then be put into Google Sheets. 4. Looking at each TV show we will record the number of characters in a cast, and their race and gender. With this data we will calculate the percentage of a race or gender per show, and make graphs. 5. Next we will add up all the data for each race and gender in each show and divide that number by the number of shows we have data for from that network, to find the averages. For example, for the network Disney, I would add up all the percentages of black cast members, and divide that number by the number of shows i researched for Disney. Than I would do the same for all the other races and genders. 6. Next we will check the yearly data. So we’d average the data per race for the 1980’s, the 1990’s, the 2000’s, the 2010’s (up to 2016), and then separately 2017. 7. We will compare all data and then make graphs to better form our conclusion. Results Our research included ten of the popular online or cable television networks: TeenNick, Disney, A&E, TLC, Fox, CBS, ABC, Comedy Central, Netflix, and Hallmark. We researched at least ten select TV shows, not including cartoons, from each TV show network, using shows ranging from the years 1990 to 2017. We researched the race and genders of the characters on the shows. All of the data leaned very heavily to the opinion that the Caucasian race and male gender dominates American Television and that minorities are underrepresented. On the network of Disney Channel we found that on average white characters made up 68.5% of the cast on a Disney Channel TV show, 16.9% were black, 6.5% were asian, 8.1% were latino, 46.64% were female, and 53.36% were male. That’s astounding. For every black character there are 4 extra
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white characters. For every asian character there are 10.5 extra white characters. For every latino character there are 8 extra white characters. This data calls for improvement in entertainment media. For the network ABC, on average white characters made up 64.42% of the cast, 19.06% black, 11.43% asian, 5.19% latino, 43.52% female, and 56.48% male. For the network CBS, on average white characters made up 74.90% of the cast, 10.52% black, 10.81% asian, 2.58% latino, 1.19% pacific islander, 38.39% female, and 61.61% male. For the network Hallmark, on average white characters made up 98.09% of the cast, 1.41% black, 0.45% asian, 0% latino, 42.58% female, and 57.42% male. This is shocking, and, in truth, disgusting. This network is certainly lacking in racial diversity. For the network Comedy Central, on average white characters made up 65.31% of the cast, 29.24% black, 0.91% asian, 4.59% latino, 16.94% female, and 83.06% male. For the network Teen Nick, on average white characters made up 70.18% of the cast, 16.02% black, 3.10% asian, 10.70% latino, 47.92% female, and 52.08% male. For the network A&E, on average white characters made up 79.72% of the cast, 8.03% black, 3.18% asian, 3.21% latino, 37.75% female, and 62.25% male. For the online network Netflix, on average white characters made up 72.35% of the cast, 10.24% black, 3.21% asian, 14.20% latino, 46.63% female, and 53.37% male. For NBC, on average white characters made up 74.60% of the cast, 15.94% black, 4.68% asian, 2.53% latino, 2.25% middle eastern, 46.11% female, and 53.89% male. For Fox, on average white characters made up 65.82% of the cast, 26.24% black, 2.59% asian, 5.03% latino, 45.79% female, and 54.21% male. When comparing the tv show networks, Hallmark had the least racial diversity with a 98.09% white cast majority. ABC has the most racial diversity, with white characters being 64.42% of the cast, 19.06% black, 11.43% asian, 5.19% latino. While no shows had a larger female majority, Netflix's male to female ratio came the closest to breaking even, with a 46.66% female, and 53.34% male cast. Lastly, Comedy Central had the least gender diversity with a 16.94% female, and 83.06% male cast. Additionally, the data for the 1980’s was very undiverse, showing a 82% white character average, a 18% black character average, a 48% female average, and a 52% male average. The data for the 1990’s showed a little bit more diversity with a 80.5% white character average, 17.1% black, 2.4% asian, a 26.8% female average, and a 73.2% male average. The data for 2010-2016 showed again the constant increase in diversity with a 72.9% white average, a 14.8% black average, a 4.2% asian average, a 7.9% latino average, a 38.6% female average, and a 61.4% male average. The data for 2017 showed even more diversity with a 63.1% white character average, a 12.3% black character average, a 6.2% asian character average, a 18.5% latino character average, 44.6% female character average, and a 55.4% male character average. Additionally, in all of our research, we found that 73.39% of all the characters in all of the tv shows in our study were white, 15.36% were black, 4.69% were asian, 6.42% of them were latino, 42.23% were female, and 57.77% were male.
Conclusion In conclusion, our data showed that the TV show networks we researched are racially diverse, although they do need improvement. Hallmark channel in particular, with a 98.09% white character average. A 1.41% black character average, and with a 0.45% asian character average. In comparison to the past, the TV show networks of today are much improved. Although more improvement is necessary, diversity in TV has improved at almost a constant rate. This project has shown the need for an increase in minority actors so people watching these shows will not only have someone to identify with, but they can have a main character, who doesn’t just sit in the background to identify with as well. Additionally, our hypothesis reigned true. There were more white characters than other races and more male characters than female on average in all television networks we looked at. There were also no shows with a 50:50 or more minority to non-minority ratio.“ There is still a notable dearth of non-white representation, especially in film and television...Given that many of the messages that we receive about race and ethnicity come to us through the media, it’s important for us to ask questions about media representations” and to make a change. Underrepresentation, characters with stereotypes, and token minorities give negative thoughts to viewers. Hopefully this project can encourage diversity and improvement and show that our country's entertainment media needs improvement. United States television is watched by people from all over the world and as an example, and to keep up our good ol’ American ideals, we should improve it. In the future I’d like to continue this project, and expand my data search by researching more shows and comparing this data to other countries. Some things that could have messed up my data are calculation errors, data size, and inaccuracy in deciding what race an actor is. Bibliography
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Race & Ethnicity. (n.d.). Retrieved January 06, 2018, from http://www.criticalmediaproject.org/cml/topicbackground/race-ethnicity/
Dixon, T. L., & Linz, D. (2000). Overrepresentation and underrepresentation of African Americans and Latinos as lawbreakers on television news. Journal of Communication, 50(2), 131-154 https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/overrepresentation-and-underrepresentation-of-africanamericans-a Hunt, D., & Ramรณn, D. (2015, February 25). NEW! 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report. Retrieved January 06, 2018, from http://bunchecenter.ucla.edu/2015/02/25/2015-hollywood-diversity-report/ Retrieved January 06, 2018 from https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/overrepresentation-and-underrepresentation-of-africanamericans-a
Dr. Hunt, D., & Dr. Ramon, A. (2017, April 25). NEW: 2017 Hollywood Diversity Report. Bunch Center of African American Studies At UCLA. Retrieved January 06, 2018, from http://bunchecenter.pre.ss.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/82/2015/02/2015-Hollywood-DiversityReport-2-25-15.pdf
Dr. L Smith, . L., Choueiti, M., & Dr. Pieper, K. (2013). Race/Ethnicity in 600 Popular Films: Examining On Screen. Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism University of Southern California. Retrieved January 7, 2018, from http://annenberg.usc.edu/sites/default/files/MDSCI_Race_Ethnicity_in_600_Popular_Films.pdf&CID=19335D 996BD965B712F656E96A766429&rd=1&h=KPacmwpn_rh4TpQ0qUbnpelOjyfRH9AThnuIBrdJS0&v=1&r=ht tp%3a%2f%2fannenberg.usc.edu%2fpages%2f%7e%2fmedia%2fMDSCI%2fRacial%2520Inequality%2520i n%2520Film%25202007-2013%2520Final.ashx&p=DevEx,5064.1
Fun and Interesting Facts about Television. (n.d.). Retrieved January 07, 2018, from http://www.televisionhistory.net/television-facts/facts-about-tv/
Facts and TV Statistics. (n.d.). Parents Television Council. Retrieved January 07, 2018, from http://w2.parentstv.org/main/Research/Facts.aspx The Urban Dictionary. Blackface. Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=blackface
Guerrero, E. (2006). Framing Blackness: the African American image in film. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/files/crr_04Dec2004_000.pdf
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
Middle School Top Prize Projects
1st Place Prize Project: Bias By Us Student: Maddie Cohen and Frances Falcon (8th)
Maddie Cohen: Abstract The purpose of our project was to see if people would be biased and stereotypical. Our experiment was a survey that was sent out. The participants had to pick from four pictures, the one that they thought best fitted the description given. My hypothesis was that for each graph, they would pick the picture that went with the stereotype. Our results showed that our hypothesis was accurate, and for each question, they picked the most stereotypical picture. To conclude, the world can be a very biased place, even if it is implicit.
Introduction “I wish everyday could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks.” ― R.J. Palacio. This quote is from the popular book and movie, Wonder. Human beings tend to judge others by appearances even without getting to know each other. To truly understand the character’s point of view, it is important to understand implicit bias, what it means, what it is, and how to identify it.
Implicit bias is a subconscious feeling towards disabilities, ethnicity, race, gender, appearances, and even wild hair (-Lapowsky, I. 2017) It's not that we want to feel this way towards others, the thoughts are “attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, and decisions in an unconscious manner.” (Understanding Implicit Bias). To clarify, racism and implicit bias are two separate things. Not everyone is racist, but everyone is implicitly biased. Implicit bias is “relatively unconscious and relatively automatic features of prejudiced judgement and social behavior” (-Implicit Bias Explained).
“Implicit bias is grounded in a basic human tendency to divide the social world into groups” (Yudkin and Van Bavel 2016). In fact, by the age of six, we have already started making negative unconscious judgements toward others with different race or appearance. (-Sarah Sloat, and Beres, D. (2016). Some people associate race or gender to a specific thing or action (Yudkin and Van Bavel). For instance, a curling iron would belong to a girl, right? The football in the road must be the boy’s next door. Some people show implicit bias more often as they stereotype others. (-Implicit Bias Explained. (n.d.). Their preconceived ideas lead them to mistake something as something else. In general, humans tend to seek out others from the same background or race “because of an evolutionary-driven preconceived notion that you can trust this group.” (-Sarah Sloat, 2016). “It has been argued that these implicit biases cause police officers to enforce the law in ways that discriminate against members of racial minority groups” (Dolanconsultinggroup).
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In reality, it “allows radicals to indict entire communities as *bigoted*, it relieves them from the obligation of actually proving their case, and it allows them to use virtually any negative event as a pretext for enforcing their ideological agenda” (-Lapowsky, I. (2017). Notably, “It’s considered a very powerful determinant of behavior because often times it comes up even when a person truly believes that they are not biased or prejudiced against something.” (Sarah Sloat, 2016).
Furthermore, studies have shown that these delicate biases are extensive and associated with discrimination in legal, economical and organizational settings.” For example, “Universities beat students over the head with the notion that they are racist whether they like it or not” (Yudkin and Van Bavel 2016). “It has been asserted that these hidden, unconscious biases cause individuals to act in discriminating ways toward others, even though individuals do not consciously intend to do so.” (Dolanconsultinggroup). Some believe implicit bias is an explanation of discrimination for employment, education, housing, and law enforcement. (-French, D. (2017, January 10). Prosecutors, judges, probation officers, teachers, and school administrators have made discriminating moves against minorities (dolanconsultinggroup). In fact, Hillary Clinton had talked about implicit bias during her campaign journey. (-Lapowsky, I. (2017) “Implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just the police.”- Hillary Clinton. (Daniel A. Yudkin and Jay Van Bavel. (2016).
At the same time, you can even show implicit bias towards others who come from the same background, religion, or have similar appearances (Understanding Implicit Bias. (n.d.). For this reason, “African- American teachers may be more punitive toward African-American students because society has imbedded into their subconscious false stereotypes about African-Americans as poor performing students” (Dolanconsultinggroup).
Implicit bias was first discovered by sociologists in the 1960’s (Dolanconsultinggroup). Implicit bias takes place in everyone's day to day lives. (-Implicit Bias Explained. (n.d.). “There no way to know that you're immune to implicit bias, because you are by definition unaware of your own subconscious.”(-French, D. (2017, January 10). “Research has repeatedly revealed no association between implicit bias test scores and actual and openly bias attitudes.” As a matter of fact, “variety of tests quiz people on “racist biases, sexist biases, homophobic biases, socioeconomic biases, and biases against persons with disabilities.” (Dolanconsultinggroup). Research shows that “implicit bias can be overcome with rational deliberation”(Yudkin And Van Bavel.) “The empirical research evidence reviewed here leads to four major conclusions. First, implicit bias test scores may lack validity”. “The second major conclusion is that there is no significant link between implicit bias test scores and actual biased behaviors.” “The final conclusion that can be reached from this report is the clear evidence that holding explicit, open biases do result in biased behaviors” (Dolanconsultinggroup). Interestingly, “Implicit racial bias has been linked to activation of our brain’s amygdala, which governs our fear response”(Beres, D. 2016). Four major factors are considered to drive implicit bias: one’s culture, one’s affective experiences, one’s development history, and one’s concept of self.” “Being treated by one member of a certain race could determine a bias because the brain’s amygdala controls emotional learning and fear of conditioning.”(-Sarah Sloat on September 27, 2016). Caucasians that try to not hold discrimination towards African-Americans still hold racist stereotypes about them in their subconscious minds (Dolanconsultinggroup).
Luckily, Americans have become more aware of the concept of implicit bias (dolanconsultinggroup). “The people who study implicit bias say just about everybody has it, to some degree, and pointing it out may be the first, best step to beating it.”(-Lapowsky, I. 2017). “Training workshops have sprouted up in the 2010’s that are designed to help individuals discover and confront their implicit biases.” (Dolanconsultinggroup). There is a test that tests your attitudes on other characteristics. The test is called Implicit Association Test (IAT). “We tend to accept information that confirms our prior beliefs and ignore or discredit information that does not. (French, D. (2017, January 10).
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To conclude, implicit bias is not something we should be ashamed of, we all can be implicitly biased. Since these feelings we have are subconscious, we don't have much control. Just remember to respect others, even if they look different from us. Of course, this is what we would want as well. We should not have to wear masks and feel like every day should be Halloween. Human beings need to be more aware of their implicit bias actions. “This confirmation bias settles over our eyes like distorting spectacles for everything we look at.” - Kyle Hill Materials 1. iPad 2. Participant 3. Google survey (see appendix A)
Procedure 1. Send out survey 2. Participant receives survey through email 3. Participant reads explanation 4. Participant takes the quiz survey 5. Receive results 6. Retrieve results anonymously
Results Our first graph for our survey showed that 48.8% of people chose person 1 when asked “Who looks the kindest?” Person 1 was a middle aged friendly lady with blond hair smiling. For our second graph, 51.2% of the participants chose person 3, when we asked “Who is the smartest?”. Person 3 is a young woman reading with glasses. We asked “Who is the athlete?” for graph 3. 82.9% picked person 4. Person 4 is a dark skinned, young, attractive, muscular man. Graph 4 asked “Who is the most popular?”. 62.8% chose person 1. Person 1 is of a young attractive woman. Lastly, graph 5 showed that 48.8% chose person 3, when asked “Who is a funnier person?”. Person 3 is a goofy man sticking his tongue out with sunglasses.
Conclusion The purpose of our project was to see how many people overall would chose the stereotypical pictures. Our results show that our hypothesis was correct, and the majority of people picked the picture that was stereotyped to the description. I think that most people chose the picture that was meant to go with the description because we all stereotype others. My background research did help me understand my results more. My facts had information about stereotypes and how people have them towards others. Even though some participants picked some people that we did not expect them to pick in our survey, we had some people people who said they picked the “obvious person” because they knew that was what we were looking for. This is a source of error for our experiment. Another error that occurred was that we forgot to take the “other” option off of the survey. A few people picked that option, so we had to exclude their response from our results. Our results shows the world that people are biased and can stereotype others. If we were to further our studies, we might experiment with the brain when people are doing acts of implicit bias. Perhaps another experiment could show why people discriminate against others. These studies could help the world understand the reasoning of why people do what they do. Bibliography Understanding Implicit Bias. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research/understanding-implicit-bias/
Implicit Bias Explained. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://perception.org/research/implicitbias/ French, D. (2017, January 10). Implicit Bias Gets an Explicit Debunking. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443723/implicit-bias-debunked-study-disputes-effectsunconscious-prejudice
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Beres, D. (2016, October 12). The Difference Between Implicit Bias and Racism. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/implicit-bias-is-not-racism
Daniel A. Yudkin And Jay Van Bavel. (2016, December 09). The Roots of Implicit Bias. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/opinion/sunday/the-roots-of-implicit-bias.html Sarah Sloat on September 27, 2016. (n.d.). 4 Facts That Show We're All a Little Implicitly Biased. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.inverse.com/article/21442-implicit-bias-debate-hillary-clinton http://www.dolanconsultinggroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Dolan-Consulting-Group-Dr.Johnson-Implicit-Bias-Research-Brief.pdf Lapowsky, I. (2017, June 03). Hey, Mike Pence: Implicit bias isn't racism, and everyone has it. Graphs
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48.8% picked person 1, a middle aged, blonde lady
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62.8% picked person 1, a young, attractive woman
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Graph 5 asked “Who was a funnier person?” The majority of the people picked a hippie looking male sticking out his tongue.
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51.2% picked person 3, a lady reading with glasses
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82.9% picked person 4, a dark skinned, muscular male.
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Frances Falcon: Abstract The purpose of our project is to educate others about Implicit bias. Implicit Bias is the act of judging others by their appearance. Your brain automatically categorizes other individuals based on their looks without you even being conscious you are doing so. We often put others in categories in which we think they fit best, and we act upon the category we place them in. For our experiment, we made a test to see if people were showing bias or stereotypical acts. Our results showed that out of 45 participants, there was a higher percentage of people choosing a particular image to represent each trait. In other words, the majority of people showed implicit bias. Introduction Recently, In the United States of America, there have been many gun violence cases in which African American males were shot, and killed. These shooting are most commonly performed by White police that show implicit racial bias towards African Americans. This subconscious act of judging others not only affects the victim, but also every individual that witnesses the bias (http://www.jghcs.info/index.php/l/article/viewFile/62/63). Implicit bias has been a serious issue that has not only occurred recently, but that has appeared across time and generations. (https://www.inverse.com/article/21442-implicit-biasdebate-hillary-clinton). In fact, Hillary Clinton included implicit bias in one of her speeches. “I think implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police. I think, unfortunately, too many of us in America jump to conclusions about each other.” But what exactly is implicit bias? Implicit Bias is the act of judging others by their appearance. Your brain automatically categorizes other individuals based on their looks without you even being conscious you are doing so. We often put others in categories in which we think they fit best, and we act upon the category we place them in. (perception.org/research/implicit-bias/).
Even though many people forbid to admit that they possess implicit bias, it is important to realize the causes and effects that takes place when someone subconsciously shows implicit bias. Not only does implicit bias affect our everyday decisions, but it also affects our behaviors and judgments towards one another. (https://diversity.nih.gov/sociocultural-factors/implicit-bias).
For example, “In 1642 a Maryland man, John Elkin, confessed to be the murderer of an American Indian leader. He attended three consecutive trials by colonists who refused to punish a white man for murder.” (https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-institutionalracism-in-the-u-s-2834624). In other words, due to Mr. Elkin’s race, the three colonists made the decision to let him be released without any punishment. This is an example of how being implicitly biased can affect your decision making. Unfortunately, the target of implicit racial bias, is most commonly shown towards African Americans. Race has a huge effect on how people are viewed. Many people may think that racism is a thing from the Good Hope Country Day School 2018 Science Fair
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past, but think that people judge others by race, assuming that your race would reflect your characteristics and personality. The purpose of our project is to calculate the amount of implicit bias amount middle school students. Our hypothesis is that middle school students will show implicit bias by choosing a stereotype for a trait. “You can easily judge the character of others by how well they treat those who do nothing to them or for them” ~ Malcolm Forbes Materials Participants Quiz sheet (In our case we made a google survey with photos. See appendix) Pencil/pen (writing utensil)
Procedure We asked our peers for their time to take our test. We made sure that we had not exposed the purpose of our project. Avoiding to expose what our project was about, helped the test takers answer honestly. Then we used their data to make our graphs. Our hypothesis is that middle school students will show implicit bias by choosing a stereotype for a trait.
Results My results show that the majority of our participants were stereotypical towards their responses. This is because in each category in our test, there was one person that was chosen the most. This would be the person that has the greatest percentage.
Question one asks “who’s the athlete?” 85.4% of people choose the same person. Question two asks “who looks the smartest?” 53.5% of people choose the same answer. Question three asks “who looks the kindest?” just above 50% the people choose the same answer. The fourth question asked “who’s looks the most popular?” about 60% of people chose the same answer. Finally, the fifth question asked “who looks like a funnier person?” 48.8% of people choose the same response.
As you may tell, there was one answer that was most commonly chosen, which had the highest percentage, this high percentage shows that the majority of people showed implicit bias. Conclusion The purpose of our project is to educate others about Implicit bias. Although it may be hard to change your perspective of an individual, being aware of your judgements can help you embrace and accept differences in others. (http://www.jghcs.info/index.php/l/article/viewFile/62/63). Good Hope Country Day School 2018 Science Fair
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Our hypothesis was correct. The majority of our participants choose stereotypical responses. We found that many people choose the answer that they thought we expected. This may have affected our results. Another flaw that our experiment had, was the timing. The kind of test that was meant to be used, was called the “implicit association test”. In this test images are shown of both black and white individuals. Then you would have to choose if this person is “good” or “bad”. This test was timed, so the results recorded the automatic decisions that were made. In our test, our participants had time to think of the “correct” answer. I think that our results would have been more precise if we timed the test. In our results, the greater percentages of the pie graph show the answers that were most commonly chosen. These results show that people are implicitly biased, if they know it or not. Knowing and having proof that all people are implicitly biased would help you realize the causes and effects that takes place when someone subconsciously shows implicit bias. Not only does implicit bias affect our everyday decisions, but it also affects our behaviors and judgments towards one another.(https://diversity.nih.gov/socioculturalfactors/implicit-bias). Further studies could investigate if people judge other just because they want to fit in. Bibliography Sarah Sloat on September 27, 2016. (n.d.). 4 Facts That Show We're All a Little Implicitly Biased. Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.inverse.com/article/21442-implicit-bias-debate-hillary-clinton
http://www.jghcs.info/index.php/l/article/viewFile/62/63
Kirwaninstitude.osu.edu Understanding Implicit Bias. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/research/understanding-implicit-bias/ Mullainathan, S. (2015, January 03). Racial Bias, Even When We Have Good Intentions. Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/upshot/themeasuring-sticks-of-racial-bias-.html Nittle, N. K. (n.d.). 5 Examples of Institutional Racism in the United States. Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/examples-of-institutional-racismin-the-u-s-2834624 Implicit Bias Explained. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://perception.org/research/implicit-bias/ Implicit Bias. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://diversity.nih.gov/sociocultural-factors/implicit-bias
Cornell.edu. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://courses2.cit.cornell.edu/sociallaw/student_projects/Definingbias.html Implicit - Dictionary Definition. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/implicit Good Hope Country Day School 2018 Science Fair
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https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/implicit-bias-and-social-justiceImplicit Bias and Social Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/implicit-bias-and-social-justice
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2nd Place Prize Project: Sweet Attractions Student: Tsehai Alfred (7th)
Abstract Have you ever had an ant eat your cookie, soda, or apple? Probably yes, but have they ever come for your diet soda? The purpose of this experiment was to determine if ants prefer natural sugar, over table sugar, or artificial sweeteners. The procedure included filling a three ounce cup with 50 milliliters of water, then adding a tablespoon of one of my ten sweeteners and leaving it near an ant hill for two hours. After that I put them in plastic bags and counted the ants. The results showed that the ants preferred natural sugars in fruits (apples and raisins) the most, then the natural sugars (honey, molasses, and agave) the second most and they liked the artificial sugar the third most. Then lastly they liked the table sugar the fourth most. The ants probably preferred natural sugars because they were more familiar. Future studies could include researching to see if ants not only liked sugar but other foods, for example savory foods. Introduction The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that the average American consumes 150 to 170 pounds of sugar a year. Can you imagine the amount of sugar you eat in a year weighing more than you (https://bamboocorefitness.com/not-so-sweet-the-average-american-consumes-150-170-pounds-of-sugareach-year/ )? Sugar is a natural sweetener and has been a part of our diet for 1000 of years. Sugar is a carbohydrate that your body needs for energy. The most common sugar found in our bodies is glucose which are organs need to function (https://makingsenseofsugar.com/all-about-sugar/what-is-sugar/ ).
There are five main FDA approved artificial sweeteners, and each of them have a different chemical makeup. There is sucralose (Splenda),acesulfame potassium (Sunnet and Sweet one), aspartame (Equal,Nutrasweet), neotame, and saccharin (Sugar Twin, Sweet’n low) (http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/15/health/artificialsweeteners-soda/index.html) .
Many fruits contain natural sugar and have a naturally sweet taste. They contain many vitamins and minerals. Almost all fruits contain natural sugar; some that do are, bananas, grapes, mangoes, cherries, pineapples, and apples. Dates are one of sweetest fruits and contain vitiman B6, vitiman A (http://healthyeating.
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sfgate.com/natural-sugar-occurring-fruit-4033.html).
Sugar alcohols are types of sweet carbohydrates that are found naturally or processed from other sweeteners. Sugar alcohols are white crystals like sugar, but unlike artificial sugar they contain calories but they just contain fewer. They are not alcoholic and they don't contain ethanol. There are many different types of sugar alcohols found in modern diets like xylitol, erythritol, sorbitol, maltitol, and many more. Most sugar alcohols have little to no effect on blood sugar and insulin levels except maltitol. Some sugar alcohols lead to dental improvement, probiotics, bone health, and skin health. When consumed in large amounts most sugar alcohols can cause digestive distress depending on the individual and type of sugar alcohols. Xylitol is highly toxic to dogs and erythritol is the healthiest sugar alcohol (https://www.healthline.com/ nutrition/sugar-alcohols-good-or-bad).
Another natural sugar that has health benefits is Stevia. Stevia is 100 percent natural and is extracted from leaves of a South American shrub. It contains zero calories and has no known adverse health effects. It has been shown to lower blood sugar and blood pressure levels. Yacon syrup contains a third of the calories of regular sugar. It is also very high in fructooligosaccharides , which feeds good bacteria in the gut and may help you with weight loss (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ naturalsugar-substitutes#section1 ).
Agave nectar is marketed as a healthy alternative sugar, but it is one of the unhealthiest sugars out there. It has an 85% fructose level which is more than added sugar. Maple Syrup contains a decent amount of minerals and over 24 different antioxidants. It is not bad for health but you should not go out of your way to eat it. Molasses is a sweet brown liquid with a syrup like consistency. It is made by boiling down sugar cane or sugar beet juice. It has a good amount of vitamins, minerals and nutrients that supports bone and heart health and may regulate blood sugar levels. It has more antioxidants than maple syrup but it is still high in sugar and should be consumed sparingly. Honey has antioxidants and small amounts of vitamins and minerals. It has some health benefits but is still sugar and should be consumed moderately (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/natural sugar-substitutes#section1).
Sugar in your diet can occur naturally as in fruits or milk or can be added as in syrups and table sugar. Added sugar occurs regularly in sodas, sugars, candy, baked goods, fruits, drinks and much more. Too much added sugar in your diet can cause many health problems and is not good for you. The human body does not need added sugar, and it adds zero nutrients to your health and can lead to obesity, diabetes, heart failure, heart failure, amputations, and even premature death. High fructose corn syrup is a sweetener made from corn syrup and is commonly used in processed foods and sodas as it implies it is very high in fructose. It is very bad for your health leading to serious diseases. It is used in many regular daily products; you probably consume and it should be cut out entirely (http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/ HealthyEating/Nutrition/Added-Sugars_UCM_305858_Article.jsp#.Wf9vvOErJE4).
Acesulfame potassium is one out of the five main FDA approved artificial sugars. Like other artificial sweeteners it has a bitter after taste. It is usually blended with other artificial sweeteners (usually sucralose or aspartame). When blended it makes it taste more like sucrose (table sugar). Each sugar masks the other’s taste. Acesulfame potassium is 200 times sweeter than sucrose, it is as sweet as aspartame and two-thirds as sweet as saccharin, and one-third as sweet as sucrose (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium ).
Neotame is one out of the five main FDA approved artificial sugars. Neotame is an artificial sweetener produced by Nutrasweet. It is between 7,000 and 13,000 times sweeter than sucrose. Because of its high sweetness only a trace of it is in food products. The amount of methanol derived from neotame is much lower than found in common foods. Neotame was approved by the FDA in July of 2002,and by the EU in November of 2001,but is not yet widely used in food products. Many people have said that neotame is dangerous and there have been many tests taken, but it has been proven that neotame is the only artificial sweetener ranked “safe’’ by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotame).
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Aspartame is one out of the five main FDA approved artificial sugars. Aspartame is one of the most common artificial sweeteners in use today. It is sold by brands named Nutrasweet and Equal. Aspartame is made by joining amino acid, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Amino acid are building blocks in proteins found naturally in many foods. Aspartame is used in many foods and beverages because it is about 200 times sweeter than sugar, since it is so sweet, you only have to use a trace of it. This lowers the calories in food or beverages. Many people have said that aspartame can cause cancer but with many tests it is proven that it doesn't. Though aspartame does cause phenylketonuria it does not cause any other health issues (https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/aspartame.html ).
Sucralose is one out of the five main FDA approved artificial sugars. Sucralose is a zero calorie sweetener produced by Splenda and is the most common sucralose based product. Sucralose is calorie free, but it also contains carbs, dextrose, and maltodextrin, which brings the calorie content up to 3.36 calories per gram, however the total calories and carbs contributed by Splenda are negligible because you only need to use tiny amounts. Sucralose is actually 400-700 times sweeter than sugar, and does not have as much of a strong bitter aftertaste as other artificial sweeteners do. (.https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sucralose-goodor-bad#section1)
Saccharin is one out of the five main FDA approved artificial sugars. Saccharin is a zero calorie sweetener that is 300 to 400 times sweeter than sugar and is commonly used as a replacement for sucrose. Saccharin is used as a common table sweetener, and is found in diet drinks, low calorie foods and vitamins and medicine. Saccharin is one of the oldest artificial sweeteners out there and has been around for over 100 years. Some say saccharin replaced by sugar benefits weight loss, diabetes, and dental health, but others are skeptical about its safety. Saccharin may lead to small reduction in calorie intake and body weight. Studies have shown that in humans there is no evidence that saccharin causes cancer or any other health problems. According to the FDA, adults and children can consume up to 2.3 milligrams of saccharin per pound of body weight (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saccharin-good-or-bad#section7). Ants are attracted to sugar for the same reasons we are, their dense source of energy rarely found in nature. Ants are attracted to sugar for its energy. Since ants are exposed to honeydew, a sugary syrup-like solution from aphids, they’d register its scent and chemicals through their antennae. They are attracted to something natural that is similar to sugar which makes them attracted to sugar (https://www.animal-pestcontrol. com/sugar-attract-ants/). The purpose of my project is to see what sweeteners ants are most attracted to. My hypothesis is that the ants will be more attracted to the natural sweeteners and less attracted to the artificial sweeteners. Materials Honey Molasses Blue nectar agave Raisins Apples Stevia Neotame,and saccharin(sugar twin,sweet’n low) Table sugar Sucralose (splenda) Acesulfame potassium (sunett,sweet one) Aspartame (equal,nutrasweet) Measuring cup in milliliters Tablespoon Ants
Procedure 1. Measure out 50 milliliters of water in a 3 ounce cup 2. Add a tablespoon to each cup of the different sugars to the water
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3. Put cups in a spot for the ants to come 4. Cover cups with tray 5. Leave cups there for 2 hours 7. In 2 hours come back to spot and observe 8. Put cups in plastic bags 9. Take out of plastic bags 10. Count how many ants are in each cup 11. Record that information
Results My results showed that the ants preferred the natural sugar in fruits the most (apples, and raisins) then the natural sugar (honey, agave, molasses, and stevia) the second most, the artificial sweeteners the third most, and the table sugar the fourth most. On average 15 ants came to the natural sugar in fruits, 9 ants came to the natural sugar, 6 ants came to the artificial sweetener, and 5 ants came to the table sugar. It should be noted that the ants are roughly counted because they move around a lot. The first graph shows trial one where the most ants came to raisins and apples, the second graph shows trial two were the most ants came to raisins and apples, and the third graph shows trail three were the most ants came to apples and raisins.
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Conclusion The purpose of this project was to determine if ants prefer artificial sweeteners, natural sugars, or table sugar. My results showed that the ants preferred the natural sugar in fruits the most (apples, and raisins) then the natural sugar (honey, agave, molasses, and stevia) the second most, the artificial sweeteners the third most, and the table sugar the fourth most. On average 15 ants came to the natural sugar in fruits, 9 ants came to the natural sugar, 6 ants came to the artificial sweetener, and 5 ants came to the table sugar. I determined from my testing that the ants prefer natural sugar in fruits (raisins and apples) the most, then they prefer the natural sugar (honey, agave, molasses, and stevia) the second most, the artificial sweeteners (splenda, sweet n’ low, and equal) the third most and the table sugar the fourth most. This supports my hypothesis that the ants will prefer the natural sugar the most because of its familiarity and scent. Some scientific studies showed that ants like natural sugar because of its scent and they like sugar because they like natural sugar and natural sugar and sugar are similar. It is possible that some of the ants were miscounted or over counted because they move around a lot. The finding that ants prefer natural sugar over artificial sweeteners and table sugar could help find possible solutions to getting rid of ants or luring in ants. This study could help with getting rid of ants because they like natural sugar in fruits so you could use fruits like apples and raisins to lure them in then get rid of them. Further studies could investigate if ants like other sugars for example sugar alcohols. Perhaps another study could include determining if ants like other food for example savory food. Bibliography http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/15/health/artificial-sweeteners-soda/index.html Wilson, J. (2013, August 14) . Real or fake sugar: Does it matter? Retrieved November 09, 2017, from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/15/health/artificial-sweeteners-soda/index.html
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sucralose-good-or-bad#section1 Palsdottir, H. (2017, June 03). Sucralose (Splenda): Good or Bad? Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sucralose-good-or-bad#section1 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sugar-alcohols-good-or-bad Leech, J. (2017, June 04). Sugar Alcohols: Good or Bad? Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sugar-alcohols-good-or-bad http://www.fightbugs.com/do-ants-like-sugar/
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Do Ants Like Sugar? The Major Reasons Why Sugar Attracts Ants. (2017, September 30). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from http://www.fightbugs.com/do-ants-like-sugar/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium Acesulfame potassium. (2018, January 15). Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium Acesulfame potassium. (2017, October 29). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acesulfame_potassium https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/aspartame.html Aspartame. (n.d.). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/aspartame.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotame Neotame. (2017, October 15). Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotame
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saccharin-good-or-bad#section7 Brown, M. J. (2016, July 09). Saccharin - Is This Sweetener Good or Bad? Retrieved November 09, 2017, from https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saccharin-good-or-bad#section7
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/naturalsugar-substitutes#section1
Dr. Tina M. St. John about Dr. Tina M. St. John Tina M. St. John runs a health communications and consulting firm. She is also an author and editor, and was formerly a senior medical officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. St. John holds an M.D. from Emory University School of Medicine. X. (n.d.). Which Fruits Have the Most Natural Sugar? Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://livewell.jillianmichaels.com/fruits-natural-sugar-5060.html http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/Nutrition/AddedSugars_UCM_305858_Article.jsp#.Wf9vvOErJE4 (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2018, from http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/HealthyLiving/HealthyEating/Nutrition/AddedSugars_UCM_305858_Article.jsp#.Wf9vvOErJE4
https://www.animal-pestcontrol.com/sugar-attract-ants/ Why Does Sugar Attract Ants? (2015, January 23). Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://www.animalpestcontrol.com/sugar-attract-ants/
https://bamboocorefitness.com/not-so-sweet-the-average-american-consumes-150-170-pounds-of-sugareach-year/C., Regan, J., K., J., Willis, J., Fitness, B. C., . . . K. (2017, November 04). Not So Sweet - The Average American Consumes 150-170 Pounds Of Sugar Each Year -. Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://bamboocorefitness.com/not-so-sweet-the-average-american-consumes-150-170-pounds-of-sugareach-year/ https://makingsenseofsugar.com/all-about-sugar/what-is-sugar/ Getting granular: what exactly is sugar. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2018, from https://makingsenseofsugar.com/all-about-sugar/what-is-sugar/
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3rd Place Prize Project: Fresh Breath, Fresh Mind Student: Aleah Mann (8th)
Abstract Many kids get distracted easily in class, but what if there was an easy way to fix it? Chewing gum is a great way to help you stay focused. The purpose of my project was to prove that chewing gum helps you concentrate while performing short-term memory tasks. The procedure included having participants repeat a list of nine numbers, as best as possible, once with gum, and once without. My results show that chewing gum does improve concentration, and peppermint gum is the best choice of gum when you need help focusing. Further studies could consist of using more flavors of gum or incorporate reaction times. In conclusion, I think that teachers should reconsider their decision about chewing gum in class.
Introduction There are many reasons for teachers to ban students from chewing gum in class, but they do not take into account the reasons students should chew gum in class. One major issue for students is distractibility, it’s easy for them to lose focus on tasks. Many students feel that chewing gum is a simple solution. Chewing gum has been proven to increase concentration and focus. To determine if chewing gum is useful, it is necessary to examine the research, understand the brain, and learn what happens when gum is chewed.
Chewing gum can boost mental performances. Kate Morgan, a research assistant at Cardiff University, and a few of her colleagues performed an experiment similar to mine. Her results showed that people who chewed gum had quicker reaction times and more accurate results than participants who did not chew gum. Other observations she had, was that people who chewed gum were more alert, and could stay focused for longer periods of time (http://www.sciencedaily.com ). On tasks that require constant engagement for long periods of time, chewing gum can help.
Concentration comes from the cerebral unit of your brain. It's the most highly developed part of your brain (https://thoughtco.com/anatomy ). The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that is associated with our memory, thought, attention, awareness, and consciousness (https://www.universalclass.com ). It’s the outermost layer surrounding the brain. The cerebral cortex is made up of tightly packed neurons. The cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes, frontal, parietal, temporal, and the occipital (http://brainmadesimple.com ). The frontal lobe is involved with movement, decision making, problemsolving, and planning. The right frontal lobe controls the left side of the body, and the left frontal lobe controls
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the right side of the body. Receiving and processing sensory information is the parietal lobes job, and the occipital lobes are the main center for visual processing, and the temporal lobes are in charge of memory, emotion, hearing, and language (https://thoughtco.com/cerebral ). The main function of the cerebral cortex is decision making. It also plays big roles in awareness, cognition, thought, language, consciousness, memory, and attention. The cerebral cortex has motor areas and sensory areas. Motor areas regulate voluntary movement. The sensory areas receive input from the thalamus and process information related to the senses (https://www.thoughtco.com/anatomy ).
When you chew gum, there is about a 25%-40% blood increase (http://www.wisebread.com ). More blood in your brain means more oxygen. More oxygen in your brain, allows your brain to perform better (https://www.scientificamerican.com ). More oxygen also enhances memory and other cognitive functions (http://www.wisebread.com ). In conclusion, teachers should reconsider their decision about chewing gum in class. The purpose of my project is to compare short-term memory of people who are chewing gum to those who are not chewing gum. My goal for this project is to help students focus more in class, and help them with test grades. I hypothesize that chewing gum will improve concentration, and peppermint gum will be the best because peppermint stimulates parts of the brain that helps you focus. Materials • Bubble Gum • Peppermint Gum • Fruit Gum • Pen and Paper • Participants • A Calculator • Two lists of numbers 1-9 in a random order
Procedure Step 1: Prepare 2 lists of numbers, 1-9, in a random order. I.e. 6-1-9... Step 2: Take one participant at a time, and recite to them one of the lists of numbers, and ask them to repeat them back to you as best as possible. Step 3: Write down the exact numbers they say. Step 4: Give them a piece of gum, write down what flavor their chewing, and wait about a minute for them to get the gum chewed. Step 5: Recite the second list of numbers to them, and write down the exact numbers they say. Step 6: Next, grade their answers. Step 7: Because people gradually get better at things the second time they perform it, to keep your data accurate, have half of your participants chew gum first, and the other half chew gum second. Step 8: Keep repeating this process until you have enough data (about 25-40 participants). Step 9: Then, find the average of all your data and compare them. Step 10: Add all the averages for each flavor of gum. Results My results show that chewing gum does improve concentration. The average person would score a 39%, without chewing gum, but when chewing, they would score a 47% (see graph A). Furthermore, when you chew fruit gum, you will likely score a 40%, when you chew bubblegum, you’re likely to score a 48%, and when chewing peppermint gum, you’re most likely going to score a 60% (see graph B). Therefore, chewing peppermint gum best improves concentration when performing short-term memory tasks.
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Graph A: Compares test scores when participants are chewing gum (47%), and when they are not chewing gum (39%).
Graph B: Compares averages when chewing Peppermint Gum (60%), Fruit Gum (40%), and Bubble Gum (48%).
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Conclusion The purpose of this project was to see if there was an easier way to concentrate. I found that, overall, when chewing gum, you’re more likely to succeed. These results were my hypothesis. For most people, chewing gum helped them complete the task efficiently. This just further proves that teachers should allow gum in their classes. I believe the results came out the way they did because peppermint stimulates certain parts of the brain to help you focus. My experiment could have been more controlled if I used twice as many people, and had each person only recite one list of numbers, instead of two. Further studies could consist of incorporating reaction times or using more flavors of gum. All things considered, this project can help students concentrate on an easier and more effective way.
Bibliography Anne, M. (2013, May 28). Gum Flavors On Concentration. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://prezi.com/m/lqifhzqwcggm/gum-flavors-on-concentration/ W4. Whyqffs
Bailey, R. (n.d.). Brain Anatomy: Cerebral Cortex Function. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/anatomy-of-the-brain-cerebral-cortex-373217 Bailey, R. (n.d.). Four Cerebral Cortex Lobes. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/cerebral-cortex-lobes-anatomy-373197
Peterson, E. C., Wang, Z., & Britz, G. (2011, July 25). Regulation of Cerebral Blood Flow. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijvm/2011/823525/ The Relationship between Concentration and the Brain. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.universalclass.com/articles/self-help/the-relationship-of-concentration-and-the-brain.htm
Weiss, J. (2013, March 13). Chewing Gum Helps In Concentration Tasks. Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://www.medicaldaily.com/chewing-gum-helps-concentration-tasks-244618?amp=1 Why Do I Think Better after I Exercise? (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-you-think-better-after-walk-exercise/ my (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130308093933.htm
(n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://brainmadesimple.com/cortex-and-lobes-of-the-brain.html 11 Surprising Benefits Of: Chewing Gum. (n.d.). Retrieved November 08, 2017, from http://www.wisebread.com/11-surprising-benefits-of-chewing-gum Appendix
Participants performing my experiment.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 12 Graders
Abstracts – 12th Graders Jada Romer The Effects of Magnesium Chloride on the Lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster (Animal Science)** In collaboration with Daniel Promislow, Ph.D., Ben Harrison, Department of Pathology, Biology, University of Washington, Seattle
Purpose: In my experiment, I hope to accomplish testing the different concentrations of magnesium chloride to see if the results could possibly lead to further research on whether or not the flies are being poisoned with chloride or manganese/magnesium. Future research consists of studying the effects of manganese on humans and collecting data through Locomotor Assays and Bang Assays to test for motor skills after being treated with experimental food. Methods: First the hot water bath was preheated to 60 degrees Celsius. Add 680 mL deionized water to a beaker and then stir with a motor vane at 375 degrees Celsius. Later add 2.1 mL of propionic acid and then 14 g of dextrose sugar to the mixture. Cover with foil to prevent spill of hot liquid. Heat to boiling point, then add 14 g of agar and mix again. Reduce the temperature of the hotplate to 350 degrees Celsius. Place the melted agar in the hot water bath (first step) then transfer correct amounts to their respective vials. Results: The results consisted of comparing both females and males lifespans after being treated with the MgCl experimental food. In line 774, there was maximum survivorship in both female and males. Similar results were seen line 627, however for line 320, the 90mM concentration affected the flies, thus suggesting that their early death could have been caused to too much salt intake.
Discussion: The results rejected the hypotheses. Should it have been too much salt or chloride, there would have been notice of an earlier death in all lines, but if it was the magnesium/manganese, then the results would have no similarity with the prior and ongoing experiment for Manganese chloride. The results showed that there was an increase twofold in the lifespan of Drosophila Melanogaster.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 10 Graders
Grant Abbot: Change in Long-Term Exposure (Physics/Astronomy) For my project I took long exposure photos. I talked about what is needed to take them, and the result of taking a long exposure photo. To test this I went to the beach and took pictures of waves. To do my experiment I needed my camera, a tripod, and a filter. A long exposure photo is when you have the shutter open for a certain period of time. It can be used to make drastic changes or minor changes, this all depends on the landscape and the amount of time your shutter is open. Stephen Bannis: Soil Moisture Sensor (Engineering Mechanics)
Water is a valuable resource, and water shortages are a serious problem in many parts of the world. The problem can be made worse by people who waste water; for example, by watering a garden or using sprinklers on their lawn (or a farmer taking care of an entire field) when it has rained recently or the soil is already moist. How can you help conserve water and prevent such waste? One way is to build an electronic soil moisture sensor. Kelsey Bhola and Carolyn Grimm First Aid App for the Caribbean (System Software)
Emergencies are inevitable. There are so many emergencies all the time, yet many people are unaware of what to actually do when they are faced with one. The purpose of our app was to provide both locals and tourists with much-needed information about the specific health needs and injuries they may encounter in the Caribbean region. To make an app with accurate and relevant information, research on injuries and dangers encountered in the Caribbean is required. For our emergency app, we attempted to identify and include important and relevant emergency information based off of what we felt were important to include from our own personal experience and knowledge and also with input from a medical professional. Our result was a functioning app with information about mosquito-borne illnesses, lionfish stings, general first aid information, Caribbean natural remedies, jellyfish stings, sea urchin injuries, emergency information (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.), poisonous plants, rabies, signs to go to the ER, and first aid kit essentials. A possible next step would be to just continue adding more and more information to the app. Nbiko Bowry Avoid the Gutter! (Physics)
The ways that people bowl in order to get a strike is put into two categories. The purpose of my experiment was to determine which way of bowling is more accurate when trying to get a strike, straight or curve. The procedure includes bowling the same amount of games, with the same ball, and same amount of steps using both of the methods. The results indicated that the curved method of bowling was more accurate. The major conclusion of this experiment was that bowling the ball at a curve so that you can hit the pocket of the pins more precise is a lot better than throwing the ball straight and hitting the ten pin increasing the probability of getting a split of having a spare. Future research should focus on what ball brand would work the best for this method of throwing the ball/ bowling. Zackary Bozzo Is Taste Really Affected by Smell? (Biochemistry)
The purpose of my project is to show how you can't taste food without your sense of smell. I hypothesized that you can only detect taste when you also detect smell. In order to do this project I had to take food of each of the taste groups and taste them while plugging your nose and then determine if you could describe the taste. The results were that 51.2% of the time I could not detect the taste. However as my data shows you can taste some foods even without smell which means my hypothesis is disproved and needs to be modified. Layla Bradshaw
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It’s Teen Nature (Behavioral/Social Sciences) For my science fair project I studied the presence of PTSD and the overall mental impact of natural disasters, specifically hurricanes Irma and Maria, in teenagers. I thought it was important to learn more about the psychological effects of natural disasters. I hypothesized that natural disasters severely impact the mental health of teenagers and increase the likelihood of PTSD in teenagers. For my procedure I observed the behavior of teens post-hurricane to find the symptoms of PTSD. I also studied many articles and research to gather more information about PTSD, its symptoms, and the overall behavior of people post-natural disasters. For my results, I found that many teens evinced signs of PTSD and are prone to or have already developed post-traumatic stress disorder because of the hurricane.
Nathaniel Camacho Building an Electric Motor (Material Sciences)
Have you ever wondered how the motors on our fans work? Electric motors are involved in almost all of our day to day tasks such as driving to school or the motors in your computer. Building a simple electric motor will help me better understand how electric motors work. In my project I'm going to build a simple electric motor using materials I find around my home. For my project I'm going to be thinking about ways to improve on motors. For example how to make them go faster or how to make them distribute more power. My project is mostly going to be an exploration project because it is a known fact that motors work. Donny Capdeville Password Hacking (System Software)**
I hypothesize that password having numbers, uppercase, and lowercase letters will take longer to hack than a just numerical password or a just alphabetical password of the same case. Also, the password will take longer to crack, the longer it is in length. To test my hypothesis I created an algorithm that could crack passwords. My results showed that an alphanumeric password can take the longest to crack. It also showed that the longer the password, the longer it will take to crack. The results supported my hypothesis.
Doug Capdeville Golf Strokes (Physics/Astronomy)
The purpose of my project was to compare 4 putting grips to figure out which one of them was more accurate. My hypothesis was that the reverse overlap Grip would be more accurate and take less shots to get into the hole. 29 people putted from the same distances with the same putter but different grips. I switched different people into different grips and the results were pretty much all the same the Cross-handed Grip in average took the least amount of strokes to get into the hole. My hypothesis was not correct. Gabe Capdeville Why Teens are Stressed Out (Behavioral/Social Sciences)
My project is, “Why are Teens Stressed.” Which Is an investigation into the primary reason for teen stress. My hypothesis is that the main reason for teens being stressed is homework, being too much of it. My hypothesis was correct. Miko Dizon-Bumann Tantan Blow Up (Earth/Environmental Sciences)
One of the most noticeable changes after Hurricane Maria was the damaged and fallen trees. The purpose of this project was to determine if these damaged trees helped the spread and increase of invasive plant species. I hypothesize that the large scale clearance made by Hurricane Maria will allow invasive tantan species to spread and increase in population. The procedure included finding three 10 ft. x 10 ft. plots of land, and over a period of two months after Maria, I used the plots to determine if there was an increasing population of wild tantan. My results concluded that two months after Hurricane Maria, there was a significant increase of wild
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tantan seedlings in my 3 plots. My conclusion found that damaged canopy trees allowed for new resource availability on the ground level, allowing wild tantans to reproduce more easily and rapidly, therefore increasing their population. Future studies could address other invasive plant species and how they're affected by hurricanes. Nyama Gibbs Roof Strong (Material Sciences)**
Hurricanes are inevitable. Nothing we do can prevent a hurricane from coming or affecting us. So what we could do? We can protect ourselves, protect our families, and protect our homes. The purpose of my project is to design a roof that could withstand a hurricane and still have the necessities of a roof. The USVI has endured two category five hurricanes and many homes were destroyed, most commonly, roofs were gone. This was not the USVI’s first major hurricane. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo devastated the island of St. Croix. Many lost homes and most roofs were gone. After Hugo the Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) adapted new recommendations for stronger roofs. Before Hugo sheathing (galvanize/plywood) were generally nailed on and rafters rested on roof beams without being connected to the roof beam. After Hugo, it became required that steel straps be used to anchor the rafters to the beams making the rafters stronger. When I observed homes after the hurricane I found that older homes that were built before Hugo generally lost rafters along with the whole roof. While newer homes that were built after DPNR’s recommendations were adopted, most roofs lost only sheathing. My hypothesis that by using my knowledge about engineering and hurricanes I can design a hurricane resistant roof. I tested my hypothesis by using the principles of engineering and hurricane wind flow. My design resulted in a hurricane resistant roof. In conclusion I was able to design a roof that could withstand hurricane force winds. My project will use the old recommendations of having the beams strapped along with my new design. This project will aid homes from losing their roofs. Kanai Hodge Ball Side and Free Throw (Physics/Astronomy)
For my project I tried to determine if the size of a basketball will affect shooting. I had 40 participants shoot ten shots with a small ball size 27.5 inches in diameter and a bigger ball size 28.5 inches in diameter. I recorded how many shots were made with each ball for each participant. My results showed that the average number of shots made with the bigger ball was more than the smaller ball. Approximately 74% of the shots made with the bigger ball were successful. I concluded that the bigger ball has a better effect on shooting. I believe my experiment can help upcoming basketball players. Further studies could be determine how different size of balls affects male and female players. Additional studies can also determine if using a bigger ball when training could help improve shots. Gus Johnson Free Throw Science Experiment (Biochemistry)
Free-throws are one of the most fundamental and important pieces of developing a complete overall game. The purpose of my project was to see whether one’s free-throw percentage is higher before or after basketball training. I hypothesize that there will be a difference in free throw percentage. I think that postpractice I will make more because of the short-term muscle memory developed in that time. I attempted to answer this question by shooting fifty free-throws before and after my two hour basketball training sessions on Saturdays. I performed this task twice on single-rim goals and twice on double-rim goals. What I found was that I made more free-throws after than I did before each time I tested it. The results of my free-throw experiment support my hypothesis since more free-throws were made immediately after working out compared with before the experiment. Some other tests that I would like to try out in the future are similar to this except I would like to have a much larger sample group so that maybe I would have individuals that don’t necessarily fit in. Also, I would incorporate the aspect of sleep into the project. Liam Kier UV and Bacteria (Microbiology)
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My hypothesis is that UV will eradicate bacteria from an exposure time of 10 or more minutes, but it will not kill the bacteria if something as thick as cardboard will be blocking it. I tested my hypothesis by putting Petri dishes contaminated with bacteria under a UV lamp for periods of 5, 10, and 20 minutes. I also covered the Petri dishes with cardboard, aluminum foil, and a garbage bag. The ultraviolet did destroy some bacteria but it depended on time of exposure and cover type. Quincy King and Carlos Van Gurp Shoe-per Heroes (Chemistry)
Our hypothesis was that there is a cheaper, more cost effective way to clean shoes other than the bargain shoe cleaner/ stain remover. We tested this theory by taking three types of shoes, dirtying them with three types of stain, and cleaning the each with three types of cleaners. We found that the most expensive out of the three cleaners we tested, hand sanitizer, was the most effective cleaner out of the three. Also we found the scuff is the hardest stain to clean. Our results support our conclusion because we found a cheap way to clean various stains. Lucy Klempen Regrowth After Hurricane (Environmental Engineering)
The purpose of my experiment was to find out if the trees would grow back after the hurricane and how long it would take. I think that plants with less damage and fast growth habits will recovery first. To track the regrowth I will measure the leaves and categorize the trees into different damage groups. My results showed that the plants with the medium to least damage regrew back first. The results I gathered supported my hypothesis. Sean Low and Ashton Patalidis Paper Airplane Range (Physics/Astronomy)
I believe that the paper airplane that has the best wing spans will fly past the point of twenty feet. I am testing my hypothesis by doing multiple tests for each paper airplane to see the distance of the airplanes. I tested the paper airplanes in a closed area and threw the paper airplanes by hand to get the results. After we did our testing, we then got our results and then graphed them. We were amazed to see that the paper airplane that we thought would fail went at least 50 feet. Andre McIntosh Taste and Personality (Behavioral/Social Sciences)
Have you ever wondered if the reason why you eat what you eat has to do with what your body needs? My project is to see if people are attracted to one taste over another because of what they need, like protein for example. The reason I chose to do this is because the project seemed like it would be able to help people find foods that could help them with stress, or stay healthy during times of emergency. The way I've done this experiment is by gathering 15 people willing to help me with the project. I would give them different types of food, have them identify the taste, and then ask them which one they preferred. In the end the results showed that even though some people seem to have a preference on one taste, they still tend to prefer another taste depending on their situation. Larissa Sweeney Larvae Lockdown (Animal Science)
I hypothesized that the mosquitoes will lay their larvae in the containers with tap water and salt water and not in the one with oil. I tested this by placing the containers with the liquids mentioned outside to see if it the mosquitoes will lay their eggs in the liquids. The results of my testing are that mosquitoes only lay their eggs in tap water and salt water. Mosquitoes are a big health problem especially after a hurricane, these insects reproduce rapidly and carry diseases that are deadly.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 9 Graders
Saba Alfred Cell Phone Heat (Physics/Astronomy) The purpose of my project is to see if cell phones emit a dangerous amount of heat. The procedure included putting a working cell phone by a glass of water and put the phone on a call for an hour and check the temperature every 10 minutes. The results were that the temperature went up ultimately about 0.4 degrees Celsius. The major conclusion is that cell phones do emit heat but not a dangerous amount. Molly Brownsdon Sea-O2 (Earth/Environmental Sciences)**
Ocean acidification is caused by the increased amounts of CO2 in our atmosphere and my hypothesis is that the shells of organisms generally experience negative impacts from increased acidity. I conducted an experiment to study how increased acidity levels impact different shells of organisms. My data shows the most weight loss from shells left in pure vinegar, then 1:1 vinegar to ocean water, then soda water, and the least weight loss from shells left in unaltered ocean water. This data supports my hypothesis and shows that the shells of organisms generally experience loss of mass from increased acidity. Josie Calhoon and Hanan Hamed The Breeze in the Trees (Plant Sciences)
After hurricane Maria, people were wondering whether their gardens would grow back as strong as they were before, or grow back at all. My hypothesis is that most of the plants will grow faster on the west side of the island, and tan tan will grow the most out of all the plants and on both sides of the island. To test my hypothesis daily pictures of several selected plants for thirty days, this came up with a total of about 500 pictures each. We processed the pictures to determine the growth of each plant. The results of our experiment showed that all the plants on the east side of the island grew more than the west side, except the palm trees. This hypothesis was refuted by our results because the tan tan plant on the east side grew about 300 more leaves than the west, this was the same for the flamboyant as well. This experiment helps the community know what to plant in their gardens for next time. Mathieu Dale Hydro-Era (Plant Sciences)
The purpose of this experiment is to find a better way to farm in an environment where water is limited and soil is poor. I hypothesize that the hydroponic wick system was going to be a much better growing medium then a traditional in the ground method. My results matched my hypothesis, in a one week period of time the hydroponic system grew 2 to 3 inches longer than its counterpart. In conclusion this experiment showed that a hydroponic system will grow plants faster. In further studies I will have a larger sample size and test the growth more times. Tea Desmond and Roxy Wallace Oobleck Potholes (Physics/Astronomy)
Our hypothesis was that a non-Newtonian fluid would work as a temporary pothole filler. We tested this by making oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid, and pouring it in the pothole. We found out, out of our two experiments pouring the liquid straight in the pot hole worked better than the bag with the fluid in it. Our hypothesis was supported because we thought the first experiment would work and it did.
Arissa Etienne The Unknown Direction (Physics/Astronomy)**
This science project is about using the way trees fell to determine what direction the winds were coming in while Hurricane Maria was on the island. I gathered data from Christiansted to Frederiksted, in order to obtain my data. In the end I was able to come to a conclusion that half of the winds came in the south and the
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other half came from the north. This contradicted my hypothesis, because I hypothesized that the majority of the winds will come in the north. Although I had a couple of factors I didn’t take in, I believe this project was still accurate enough to tell what direction the winds were coming in while Maria was here. I hope you enjoy my project! Alessandra Evangelista Investigating Thermocline Driver (Earth/Environmental Sciences)**
There is a concern that cold fresh water from the arctic waters and melting sea ice flowing in at high latitudes will make the current less dense and it will not sink.. The purpose of my project is to show the modeling affect global warming has on thermohaline circulation. My hypothesis is that cold salty water will sink the fastest because it is the densest. To test this I dropped water of different temperatures and salinities with food coloring into another cup of water. After dropping the water I timed how fast it sank to the bottom or floated back to the top. My results concluded that cold salty water sank fastest when dropped in cold pure water with an average sink time of 1.6 seconds, while warm salty water sank fastest when dropped in warm salty water with an average of 2.6 seconds. The results have supported my hypothesis. Further studies could include using real ocean water for this experiment. Dilani Frorup 02 is the Go 2 (Chemistry)**
I hypothesize that the amount of oxygen in the containers of water will decrease when exposed to sunlight, but the containers in the shade will stay the same, the containers with soil and the containers with trash will have a decreased amount of oxygen in them, but the containers with the algae and the containers with the leaves will have an increased amount of oxygen when in the same volume of water and measured with the same methods. My data showed that the cups of water that had soil added had decreased compared to their original DO readings. Everything else actually gained some oxygen and had above average DO, showing an increase in my bar graphs and then a fairly steady level throughout the rest of the readings. The algae did not seem to bloom very much and my leaves did not decompose much except for a few brown spots. The plastic was virtually unchanged and my control stayed the untouched except for the increased DO reading. A large portion of my readings which were in percentages and mg per L were at 8.5 mg/L with my maximum amount being 10 mg/L and the minimum being 5 mg/L. In percentages, the maximum is about 64% and the minimum is about 130%. My data did not support my hypothesis because the data was above my expectations for most of the DO readings. For my soil cups, I hypothesized that the DO will decrease. It did, but they decreased for different reasons than I predicted. The temperature difference for the cups was very small because even though my cups were at a window, they were facing the south when the sun goes from east to west, causing them to not get direct sunlight. For a next experiment, I could take more time to do my project and record more often instead of waiting a week and getting only one reading and comparing it to the original. If I did continuous readings over a larger period of time, I might have seen results that are similar to fluctuations in DO in a real aquatic environment. Mariam Hamed Facing the Facts (Behavioral/Social Sciences)**
The purpose of my project is to find out what social media app gets the most interaction. I wanted to do this project because like every teen I enjoy social media. I hypothesized that Facebook will get the most interaction with the post because I believe people who use Facebook are older people who would be more interested in science facts than younger students. Instagram I believe is used more by teens than Facebook. In the end, my results showed that Instagram got more interaction than Facebook. I believe my results ended up this way because I have more followers on Instagram than Facebook. I had 16 followers on Facebook and 40 on Instagram. This project was a great experience and I hope I could continue working on this project next year.
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Naurani Persaud Alternative Water Filtration (Material Sciences) My hypothesis is by creating a water filtration system with only using natural or household items, the filtered water produce will come out looking clean and drinkable. The materials I used will take out pathogens and bad chemicals. I tested my hypothesis by using a baseline bio water filter consisting of a gravel layer, a sand layer and a final filtration material layer. My experiment consisted of interchanging materials and seeing which one worked better. Coconut fibers worked best. It filtered out 12 cups of water and took only 30 minutes for the filtration process. The least functional material was, Cotton balls with only 7 cups produced and taking 34 minutes to filter. My data does partially support my hypothesis because my water produced by each material came out looking clean but I didn't test if it was drinkable.
Anaijah Peters Conduction and Ions (Chemistry)
The purpose was to determine the voltage of each and every one of my liquids. After I tested my liquids I came out with results that I never expected. The orange juice had voltages of 0.05 volts and 0.04 volts. The sports drink had a voltage of 0.1 volts. The sugar water had a voltage of 0.14 volts. The salt water had voltages of 0.07 and 0.08 volts. The water had voltages of 0.12 and 0.11. I was surprised by those results.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 8 Graders
Ally Bhola Phantom Sensations (Behavior) Over the course of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, there were about 1,558 American soldiers who lost limbs. Phantom sensations give amputees the feeling that their missing limb is still there and working. Some even, have the feeling of clothing brushing against the limb. My experiment was to see if you can make nonamputees feel phantom sensations. To do this, I used a mirror, an ice cube, a feather, and an eraser. With the subject looking into the mirror at half of their body, I hit the subjects’ knee with an eraser. Then, I pressed an ice cube to their wrist. My last step was to tickle their ear with a feather. My results showed that the ice and the feather were the most effective. This could be because I didn't know where to hit the subjects on the knee. Future studies could test, who felt it more, boys or girls or if the age of the person made a difference. Christopher Cawley All About Bacteria (Microbiology)
Keeping ourselves safe from illness is near impossible in the world we live in today. We touch everything from toilets to public water fountains and even puppies. All of these can carry germs that can get you very sick and in this world of rush we don't always have time to stop and wash our hands. The solution is hand sanitizer they kill and prevent germs from getting you sick. This is all great, but the real question is does hand sanitizer kill all the bacteria that can get you sick? My procedure includes multiple human subjects that are willing to be used in process of my experiments. First I will need my subjects to take the (wet) cotton swabs with their contaminated hands to enter the now contaminated cotton swabs into their Petri dish. Then my human subjects will put hand sanitizer on their hands to test and wipe the cotton swab on their hands and then put it on the Petri dishes. We will wait for the bacteria to reproduce and begin to grow and see our results after a couple of days.
My results indicated that hand sanitizer decreases bacteria on your hand significantly. Most people had a very high percentage of bacteria on their hand, which was shown on my Petri Dish where my bacteria colonies grew. I tested six human subjects which on average had one hundred and sixty two bacteria colonies before using hand sanitizer. After they used hand sanitizer they had an average ninety one colonies of bacteria that were growing. This shows that it was an average of almost a seventy one bacterial colonial decrease. The conclusion of my project is that hand sanitizer removes some but not all germs from your hands. Further studies for my project would be that I compare hand washing to hand sanitizing your hands. I could compare and contrast and examine the two tests to see which is more effective. Sydney Cornwall and Imani Persaud Filter It (Microbiology)
We all want clean water. The purpose of our project was to see if we build a water filter for less money that could remove as much bacteria as a commercial filter. We made a filter out of a two liter bottle, rocks, charcoal and other common materials. We compared the number of bacteria cells that went through the homemade filter to the number of bacteria cells that went through a Sawyer.1 Filter bucket adapter kit. Our results showed that the commercial water filter got rid of a greater number of bacterial colonies. In conclusion, the commercial filter worked better and would provide safer water. Future studies could try to improve on the homemade filter design. Aiden DaCosta and Melvyn Fox Help or Harm? (Plant Science)
Toxic...Sour...Painful. If these words made you think of acids, then you would have thought correctly. In fact, one acid that you may be familiar with is citric acid, also known as Vitamin C. The purpose of my project was to see if plants could grow in an acid like vinegar compared to water. My hypothesis is that the vinegar will work as well as the water. What I did was put the seed in a Petri Dish, and soaked a paper towel with water. I did the same thing with another seed, and then soaked the paper towel with vinegar. My results show that the
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seeds in water grew compared to the seeds in vinegar. My hypothesis was not supported. One reason may be that the vinegar was too acidic.
Mikey Dizon Beat the Heat (Biomedical/Health)
Everyone struggles in the heat. The purpose of this project is to see if heat affects your athletic performance and by how much. So to test the effects of heat on athletic performance I created an experiment where in one trial you wear normal athletic clothes and in the other trial you wear warm or hot clothes. In both trials they would hold the same pace for fifteen minutes. The results had no real difference except that you sweated more with warm clothes than athletic clothes. I’ve concluded that wearing warm clothing doesn’t affect your performance. Future studies can focus more on the effects of humidity on athletic performance. Uchenna Ferris A Fruity Background (Chemistry)
Every living thing is made up of the tiny, complex structure of DNA. All fruits contain DNA. Consider the amount of DNA in a smoothie or fruit salad. The purpose of this project is to see which fruit I can extract the most DNA from: kiwi, strawberry, or banana. After separating the blended fruits into individual baggies, I add the DNA extraction liquid I made before and collect my data. My results show that the most DNA was extracted from the kiwi. A future experiment could compare amounts of vegetable DNA to amounts of fruit DNA. Elyssa Franklin Peppermint (Behavior)
The purpose of my project was to see if peppermint would speed up reaction time. The procedure included flipping a coin to see what control group the subjects were in. Group A (heads) got the peppermint during the test and group B (tails) got the peppermint after they completed the test. My results show that eating peppermint while doing a reaction time test barely helped. In conclusion peppermint didn't really help improve reaction timed test. Future studies could see if peppermint helps memory. We could also see if cinnamon or another spice could improve reaction time. Hakeem Hamed and Amirah Yusuf What’s in the Bag? (Plant Science)
Hakeem Americans eat the most popcorn out of the entire world. The purpose of this project was to find which popcorn gives you the most popped kernels. How we organized the experiment was that we put popcorn bags into a microwave for two minutes then we compared all of the popped kernels to all of the kernels in the bag. The results we’re that Value Time had the highest popped percent. In conclusion I will recommend all of my family members to get Value Time. Future studies can compare the prices.
Amirah Popcorn is a popular snack while watching movies. The purpose of my project was to find out which brand of microwave popcorn had the highest percentage of popped kernels. My procedure was to pop three bags each of six brands of microwave popcorn and count the popped and unpopped kernels from each bag. My results show that Value Time and Orville Redenbacher brands had the highest percentage of popped kernels. I recommend people buy one of those two brands because they pop the best with the least number of unpopped kernels. Future studies could look at the cost of popcorn and find out which brand would give you the most pieces of popped corn for your money. Opher Hasson
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Coral Bleaching (Environmental Science) My 2017-2018 Science fair project was on Coral bleaching in St Croix. Coral bleaching has been a big problem since the 1990’s. Coral bleaching is when the temperatures of the water gets out of balance in the ocean and the colorful coral dies and turns white. The reason why I decided to swim to a reef and see if there is coral bleaching is because I grew up snorkeling and have always enjoyed discovering interesting structures in the ocean. I have always wondered why coral is dying and where it is dying so I thought the science fair would be a good opportunity to learn about the death of coral and to also share my data and make awareness of the fact that the ocean is dying. When I swam out to one of the reefs by whale point (Point Udall) to document the bleaching, I noticed the dangerous currents. My dad and I went under the water to look at the reef and I was shocked at what I saw. Sand and algae were covering the coral and the coral was all brown and white. I was so sad seeing the coral like this so I was determined to find live coral. As I swam through the rough currents looking for vibrant colors I could not find anything. All of the coral was bleached and dead. It is sad to know that corals are dying and some people don't even know. I hope awareness spreads so we can counter global warming and pollution. Malik John Music Improvement (Behavior)
Music can do many things from distracting us to making us get that final boost of energy. Music has been a big part in human history and have affected us in many different ways. In my experiment I will study how music can improve or worsen participants’ times in completing certain tasks. When I did the experiment it matched my hypothesis the participants when they did the experiment improved in one area with music while in the other it worsened the participants’ times. For every participant their times changed from person to person but in the test as a whole music helped them in one area or in both. D’avian Lewis-Flynn Reward vs. Punishment (Behavior)
Motivation refers to the state within the organism that drives behavior towards some goals. The purpose of my project is to find data on how much effort someone would put into their work if they were promised a reward or punishment. My experimental design included asking twenty participants four yes or no questions. My results showed that children were more motivated to do better or put forth greater effort when threatened with a punishment. In further studies, I would probably use different punishments and rewards. Makari Matthew Sand vs. Peat in Drainage (Earth Science)
Taking proper care of your plants truly brings out the true beauty of nature. Knowing your plants nutrients and water drainage are both necessary components to help your plant grow. For my science project I will calculate and compare water drainage between five different ratios of soils, these soils will be peat, and sand. To do this experiment 25 pots were used, five containing each amount of soil with four seeds in each. After a week of watering and plant growth data has been collected. This data showed that 100% peat drained the most water. Billy Medina: Juice Bacteria (Microbiology)
Have you ever thought twice about drinking juice? After reading this you probably will. The purpose of my project was to compare the number of bacteria cells living in different types of juices. The procedure included making agar, putting it into 14 Petri dishes, putting juices in them, then recording how many bacteria colonies grew after X amount of days. The main conclusion found was that awesome juices are more resistant to bacteria than others. Maybe in future studies someone can find a way to strengthen the resistance to bacteria in juices.
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Carson Oakley Waste in the Waves (Environmental Science) Plastic is killing our oceans in lots of ways. The purpose of my project is to raise awareness for the rising global issue of pollution in our ocean. The procedure of my project had one main step and that was to collect data from beach reports and plug them in a spreadsheet. My hypothesis was that the West end of St. Croix USVI would have the most trash. The controls of my experiment were the beaches. The results showed that the West End of St. Croix was the most polluted side with over 4,884 pieces of recorded trash. In conclusion our island is very polluted. Any future research needs to focus on not only the data from online but also the unrecorded data. Another focus should be on other locations around the world. Ava Patalidis Squid Jet (Engineering)**
Humans have always looked at nature and took aspects of it to make it something new. One common example of this is squids. The purpose of my project was to study how squids swim, then make a model squid that is able to swim underwater. The procedure included drawing out a plan of what my squid would look like then I followed out my plan by placing a fountain pump inside a water bottle and added squid like details. I wanted my squid to swim in a straight line so I built it a track to run across. My finished model squid was able to swim without the track but while using the track I discovered that all the designs I tried held my squid down, resulting in it not moving at all. I had to get rid of the track system completely and just let my squid swim freely. In conclusion I built a model squid that swims through water that follows Newton’s third law of motion, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite re-action.” A further study of my project could test if fins are able to stabilize underwater objects. Shana Sargeant Shhh… (Behavior)
Have you ever been taking a test and then a teacher comes in and starts talking? The purpose of my project is to determine what is the most distracting during a test. Is it someone's phone ringing, people talking, classical music or just the dead silence? I split up twenty eighth graders into groups of five and timed them on a fairly simple twenty question multiplication test. Each group had a different distraction except for one, the control group. The results showed that the classical music group took the longest, control second, then phones and last people talking. This could be because the classical music relaxed this group so they took their time. On the other hand, the talking distraction group was the fastest but they got the most wrong. Further studies could be looking more into the different age group and what distracts them most while testing. Jenny Turk Build ‘n Boil (Physics)**
Cooking, whether it is grilling a steak, baking some brownies, or boiling an egg, takes heat. For my project, I wanted to create a stove that is cheap and efficient. My hypothesis of this project is that a rocket stove can be made using cheap materials, efficient, and can be a simple way to boil or cook. I tested this by assembling a rocket stove using available materials and then timing how long it took to boil one liter of water. After 20 trials, the results showed that I was able to get the rocket stove at peak efficiency, and the average time of the rocket stove was only 1.69 minutes more than the electric stove’s (the control) time. My prediction was supported that I could do this: I was able to make a cheap and efficient rocket stove that could boil water. With a rocket stove, people are able to feel comfort because cooking provides nourishment and empowerment.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 7 Graders
Wesley Birdsall Desalination – Solar vs. Stovetop (Environmental Science) The world is full with people without clean water. About 1.1 billion, which is why this is a United Nations goal by 2030, for everyone in the world to have clean water. With desalination this problem could be fixed. We already desalinate water in plants but is expensive and contributes to global warming issues. My project is about comparing two different ways to desalinate water, boiling and solar. At the end of my experiment I found out that boiling the water on a stove is more efficient than setting a bowl in the sun for hours for not much water. Necha Bishop Homemade Paper (Materials)
Thirty five percent of all trees harvested around the world are used by the paper industry. The purpose of my project was to try to make paper out of leaves of local trees and used paper. I blended three batches of leaves: genip, banana and calabash and mixed each different type of leaf with used paper pulp. The results were that the banana leaf paper was thin, but strong enough to write on. The genip paper was thickest and strongest, but it took the longest to dry. The calabash paper was the thinnest. The genip paper is the most popular based on strength and texture. A future study could explore the cost differences between making new paper and making recycled paper. Wyatt Bracy Illusion Confusion (Behavior)
Have you ever seen an illusion? If you have you might have seen an illusion with sound. The purpose of my project was to see if a video appeared the same with and without sound. I tested 10 people (separately) by showing a video with two dots crossing the screen. Half of the time, there was a sound when the two dots met. I asked the subjects if the dots crossed on the screen or if they bounced off of each other. One hundred percent of the people who were given the sound said that the dots crossed. Sixty percent of the people who heard a sound said that the dots bounced off of each other. My results support my hypothesis. I would like to do this project with more people. You could also do this project with an illusion using an illusion that had no sound. Jean Jacques Dongar Cell Phone Addiction (Behavior)
Are you wondering why your kids are always on their phones?? Well I’m going to tell you with my project on Cell Phone Addiction. Curious for more, well keep on looking to find out. Luca Forno D’Adamo Five Second Rule: Fact or Fiction? (Microbiology)
They're on you, they’re in you, and they are everywhere! They are bacteria. My science fair projects purpose is to study bacteria on food to see if it is safe to ingest. To test the experiment I dropped apple slice on the ground, waited different intervals of time, picked them up with sterilized tweezers, dropped them in a petri dish and then waited a day. Then I recorded my data. My results show that no matter the time on the floor, food gains bacteria. I recommend never eating off the floor. My results were not as accurate as they could be because there is bacteria in the air. It was also hard to judge the amount of bacteria on the Petri dishes because they are round so it is hard to determine the percentage of bacteria on the Petri dishes. I can follow up on this experiment by testing to see if different foods attract more bacteria than others. Khalil Francis Decomposition (Materials) The purpose of this experiment was to figure out which type of plastic degrades fastest. Bioplastic, biodegradable plastic and petroleum-based plastic were buried in dirt and left outside for two months to see
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what changes would occur. I found that the biodegradable plastic bag and the plastic bag showed the most signs of degradation. I think this is because they were the thinnest. If I were to do this again, I would start earlier, that way the plastics would have a longer time to degrade. J.J. Klempen One Day This Can Save Your Life (Environmental Science)
Solar powered water desalination is used to separate salt from seawater through condensation and evaporation when placed in the sun. I decided to do this project because if you were to ever get stuck in a situation where you didn’t have any fresh water, you could build a water desalinator and have fresh water in less than a day. Inside my biggest clear container, I placed another one on the center which was a lot smaller. After that I wrapped plastic wrap around the biggest container, covering the entire top, then I placed a washer on top of the plastic wrap so it lined up to the center of the smaller container. After that I set it in a sunny spot to desalinate. On average, I collected about one inch of freshwater in seven hours. In conclusion I think desalination can save money and save lives. Future studies could look for a faster desalination processes. Justice Lawrence Do You Know What You’re Drinking? (Microbiology)
My Science Fair project was to build an affordable, homemade water filter that would reduce bacteria by 50% so that the water is safer for human consumption in countries with dirty, inadequate water. During my summer vacation in 2017, my family and I spent four weeks travelling to Southeast Asia and the Middle East. We visited countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. While we enjoyed the beauty of those countries, the people and the animals, including riding elephants in Thailand, what we realized was that in every one of those countries, the water was generally unsafe for swimming or drinking and we were forced to be very conscious of how we used the water. For example, while playing and bathing with the elephants in the river, my sister and I were reminded continuously to keep our mouths closed. Certain diseases were in the water we bathed in and in the water we swam in. Even to brush our teeth, we had to use bottled water--a new experience for my family. My results were that my filter did not reduce the amount of bacteria by the projected 50%. This is because the filter became extremely dirty with every use. The homemade filter would need to be cleaned after every use, which is not practical for everyday use. If cleaned after every use, the filter is capable of reducing the bacteria by the projected 50%. Khang Le Turn On! (Physics)
For my project I decided to figure out which battery would last the longest. I decided to test Eveready, Energizer, and Duracell. But I never got to Duracell because I made the mistake of using D batteries. I used an Eveready flashlight, and tested the Eveready batteries first. After a long wait I tested the Energizer. Milo Miller So You Want a Solar Fridge? (Physics)
Refrigeration is a convenience in modern times we count on to keep our food fresh and our drinks cold. In this project I will show you how to build a solar mini fridge and the costs of all the materials you will need to make your own. I think solar is very useful and is the future of where we get power. I found out that a 50 liter fridge needs about 50 watts and a fridge of 25 liters needs about 25 watts. It would cost about $150-$550 dollars to setup a solar mini fridge, but then the sun would provide energy with no more cost to the electric company. Future studies could compare the temperatures of a normal fridge to a solar powered fridge. Emily Mohammed Ant Traffic Signals (Animal Behavior)
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Ants are small interesting creatures with a lot going on in their little world. The purpose of my project is to figure out if ants have a do not enter pheromone. The procedure involves setting up 2 Y shaped platforms and setting up food sources differently and moving from there (see procedure). I tested 2 species of ants, fire ants, and the common black ant (aka, the carpenter ant). It was very interesting to study and observe their behaviors and compare them (see observations). My results indicated that none of them seem to have a do not enter pheromone signal, but they do have a very interesting and amazing life and should be open to more studies. Jasmin Nieves The Art of Ballet (Behavior)**
Dance and spotting go hand in hand. In order for a dancer to make a successful turn, spotting is essential. This technique is achieved by the dancer “whipping” his or her head while turning and finding a focus point, known as spotting. In my research, it is clear that dancers must maintain a straight head and spine alignment in order to make a proper turn and be stable. If the dancer tilts his or her head, it will cause the dancer to stumble and therefore not able to spot. Training and technique also play an important part of my research. The ages of the dancers in my research vary. Therefore, some are not using blindfolds. But it is noticeable that they have not yet mastered the technique of spotting. My research has proven my hypothesis to be correct. Spotting is indeed essential in helping a ballerina maintain her balance while doing turns. The alignment of the head plays an important role as well. If the head is not straight when turning the fluid in the ears sends a signal to the brain that the body is not stable. Therefore, causing dizziness. I was able to collect data with participants doing the experiment of spotting and by online research of similar videos. The participants to help in this experiment were Lilly from Costa Rica who attends a ballet school in Panama. I also got participants from Mrs. Klein’s sister, Ms. Allison Campbell, Instructor at the dance studio in Ohio, Art in Motion. I am very grateful for their time in assisting me with this project.
The graph shows interesting data. The data indicates that when a dancer uses the spotting technique, they are able to maintain their balance longer. Therefore, they are able to achieve more turns. This is the controlled variable. My results show my hypothesis to be correct. Although, some of the dancers did not feel comfortable attempting turns with a blindfold, it is clear that spotting is very important in order for them to keep their balance. The independent variable of having different levels of dance training reflects on the age variations of the dancers. This plays an important part in the experiment. Some of the younger dancers do not have the spotting technique mastered. This is evident in their head being tilted and turns not being fluent. It is a technique that requires much training. Another variable which would not alter the experiment is whether slippers or pointe shoes were used. Anil Prasad and Addison Purdome Solar vs. Wind (Environmental Science/Physics)
One day the thing that powers your television, your microwave and your video games will eventually run out. Fossil fuels power 82 percent of the earth but they will eventually run out. So what are we going to do? That is the purpose of our project, we are testing out the most promising alternative energies solar energy and wind energy. We got a rechargeable battery and its charger and a mini solar panel and a mini wind turbine and some regular batteries for a control. We hooked either the wind turbine or solar panel to the charger and used a stopwatch to time how long it took too charge the battery. It seemed that the solar energy was the most efficient out of the two energy’s we tested. Our hypothesis was correct in the end because the solar panel would constantly generate electricity. Alex Tonin Bacteria Counts Inside and Outside Reef (Microbiology)
Bacteria are alive! They are the simplest form of life known, being made up of only one cell. The purpose of my project was to compare the amount of bacteria inside of the reef at the yacht club to the amount of bacteria in the water on the outside of the reef. For my project I made agar in Petri dishes and collected water
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at the beach, right inside the reef and, outside the reef and tested the bacteria from them all. My results show that there was a lot of bacteria at the beach in the yacht club and no bacteria outside the reef. My advice would be to swim outside the reef so you don’t get sick and none of your cuts get infected. Different studies could be to look at bacteria levels at different beaches on the east side of St. Croix.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 6 Graders
Armani Anderson How does time affect the speed of cooking different items in a solar oven? Hey! Looking for a way to reheat food but you’re having problems with your microwave and oven? Well you can always use a solar oven with a few things. To build it you will need a pizza box with reflecting light with sealed edges to keep heat in and temperature. The reason of conducting this project was to see what you can do with house items and solar power. Jackson Archambault Freezing Batteries
In conclusion my results did support my hypothesis in that the hot would last shorter in comparison to the cold battery some of the key components of this experiment was picking 2 equal sized flashlights so the power level would be the same, and also picking the same types of batteries and also planning ahead for the experiment my reputation were the cold lasted 1 hour and 22 minutes and the hot lasted 20. If I would be to do this experiment again I would change the type of battery I used to see if that is a variable on its own. Some problems I ran into on the way was not having two flashlights of equal power, then also not having the time and space, and finally having to work at a faster pace because I came in late. . Some further studies that could be conducted is how long the batteries last in different power flashlight and also if the size of battery affects them. Michael Atwell and Ian Birdsall What are the effects of drag on a Magnetic Linear Accelerator?
A magnetic accelerator uses the kinetic energy of a rolling metal ball that is transferred and multiplied threw the magnets to launch at significant forces. We discovered that with an opposing force of wind otherwise known as drag can decrease the acceleration of a solid object (Metal Ball). We made a wind tunnel consisting of a 1ft 6in cardboard pipe, Lasko fan, and a plastic seal at the end with a tiny hole which we forgot to measure. We set the fan to multiple different wind speeds and tested the times to average them and found out with the tests that some were inconsistent so we decided to redo the tests and it was a human error and we added the secondary tests.
During our tests we realized that sometimes the metal ball went of course because of the fan being slightly tilted. Due to the tilted fan the wind force was not at full potential so the drag was not at full effect, we did not realize until we wrote the abstract and looked at our data. On some attempts we misfired the metal ball and we had to restart the trial. We also found that there was a delay so we mistimed the ball and once again had to restart the trail. Once we finished the project and averaged the times, we did a few tests, but we forgot to record the data. Sam Chardon and Finn Miller Does the condition of the football or wearing gloves affect how well you catch the football?
This project was interesting because he got 4-6 on every condition except for mud with gloves which was the last one. Did you know that football use to be made out of pig skin? We were surprised with the results we both thought it would be something else manly are hypothesis but definitely not mud or water with or without gloves. Emma Craft and Abriella Messier Salt vs. Ice
Have you ever wondered what kind of salt in the whole world would melt ice the fastest? Well we did our science project on what salt will melt ice the fastest. We thought the sea salt would melt the ice the fastest but it didn't. Pink Himalayan salt melted the ice the fastest. Pink Himalayan salt was 14.94 minutes then kosher salt was 15.18 minutes and last but not least sea salt was 16.54 minutes. We were very surprised and
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interested by our result. We chose this project because it would be cool to find out what kinds of salt in the world melts salts the fastest.
Joey Croney and Tyler Jones Which type of boat material can hold more weight?
Have you ever wondered what type of materials float better with weight well I haven't until this amazing project that helped me immensely in knowledge of boats I learned the history of boats and what boats are made of to float best. Kaiden Deller and Joshua Rodgers Which type of water is the most pure?
Did you know that some well water makes you nauseous, vomit and have diarrhea? We wanted to see if cistern, well, Fiji or tap water would be the best water to drink? Our results showed Fiji has the highest ph and the best hardness and thus it was the best type of water to drink out of our other waters. Our conclusion was right that Fiji was the best water and it had the best ph and hardness. I would like to research the ph and hardness and chlorine of rain and a natural spring in the future. Evan Dykstra Sponges vs. Acid
Sponges are animals, ocean acidification will affect them. The reason I chose to do this project was because ocean acidification is something happening right now, but the reason I chose sponges was because not many people think about sponges. I collected sponge samples and tested them with three acidic levels. The control did not lose any mass but the others lost 0.1-0.2 grams. Yes the acidic water did affect the sponges just a little bit but it still proves that rising ocean acidification will affect these animals. Further studies will show more proof but it could also depends on what type of sponges people are testing. Jahkeil Edmunds What is the effect of different amounts of dry ice on a bubble?
Did you know that bubbles can be touched? The purpose of me doing this project is because I thought it would be fun and not every day you get to touch a bubble. My results proved my hypothesis correct. My hypothesis was that the bubble with two pieces of dry ice would be the biggest. This was a good experience doing this project. Lily Falconer and Maya Hopkins How does plastic tightness on bananas affect their ripening?
Have you ever wondered, how to make bananas slow down their ripening? Probably not if you live in the states, but in St. Croix, this question pops up a lot. The purpose of this project was to see if there was a way to slow down bananas ripening, so they aren't wasted as much. We tested 6 bananas to see if they would ripen slower with no plastic wrap at all, loosely wrapped plastic wrap on its stem and tightly wrapped plastic wrap on its stem. We did this and checked on it about the same time every day for 5 days. Our results included that the bananas with loosely wrapped plastic wrap on it slowed the ripening down the most and the bananas with no plastic wrap did the worst with the banana almost completely brown. Aiden Fitzgerald and Nate Roth Which soda has the most sugar after it has been boiled?
Do you really want to drink soda after this experiment? The purpose of this experiment was to make you think twice about grabbing that soda off the counter by showing you the sugar in it.
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First we weighed the pan and recorded the weight. After we recorded the weight of the pan we placed it onto the burner and turned it on high. Then we grabbed our first soda which was Coca-Cola and poured it into the pan. We waited about 20 minutes for it to boil. Once the soda had evaporated we scraped it into a bowl with a metal knife. After that we wash out the pan and repeated this process two more times, but each time with a different soda. Che Guerra and Kai Hutchins How does microwave radiation affect the growth of tomatoes?
Did you know that electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light? And that x-rays (ionizing radiation) can kill you? The purpose of our experiment is to see if tomato seeds are affected by microwaves’ electromagnetic radiation. The reason we wanted to do this project was because everyone in our class said there was radiation in microwaves so we wanted to see if it was true. To test this idea, we exposed tomato seeds to 15, 30 and 60 seconds in a microwave, then we immediately planted them and made observations about the growth of the plants during a two-week period. The results showed that compared with our control seeds, the seeds exposed to 1 minute of radiation took longer to start growing or died. The ones exposed to 30 seconds of radiation had the same results. The tomato seeds exposed to 15 seconds sprouted between 3-8 days, similar to our control plants except a lot of them grew faster. In conclusion, our experiment proved that a slight exposure to electromagnetic radiation either has no effect on the germination of tomato plants or makes them grow faster, while an exposure of 30 seconds or more delays the germination of seeds or kills them. Jayden James Which type of liquid disintegrates an eggshell the fastest?
Have you ever wondered what liquid(s) makes an egg rubberize? To perform this experiment you will need three eggs, three jars, half a cup of coke, vinegar and water. Place the egg in the jar and pour half the cup of vinegar into the jar. Take the second egg and place it in your last jar and add half cup of coke. And last but not least take the last and place it in the jar and pour half a cup of water. It is really important to cover the jar through this procedure so that the fumes don’t go through the air, then the chemical won’t do what it’s supposed to do to the egg. During the six days you will notice bubbles forming on the egg in vinegar. This is happening because the bubble are the acetic acid eating out the calcium carbonate in the egg shell. If you look at the egg in coke you would notice dark streaks and a dark stains forming on the egg. And if you take a look of our last egg the water egg it looks pretty dull. That’s because water is neutral on the PH scale, it does not have any acid in it. Can you imagine if coke was the only liquid we could drink with all the acid? That’s why we have water. Nice fresh and healthy.
After six days you will notice that something amazing happened to the egg, then you will see that the vinegar egg lost its shell. This happened because vinegar consist of 5-20 percent of acetic acid (CH3COOH). It PH is 3.4 on the PH scale. Acetic acid is produced by a fermentation of flavorings of ethanol by acetic acid and bacteria. Therefore the vinegar was strong enough to break down the calcium carbonate on the shell. The egg in the coke did not lose its egg shell because the coke did not have enough acid. Coke products contain carbonic acid. This forms when carbon dioxide, which makes soft drinks bubbly, reacts in a solution. The PH number for coke is 2.5 to 4.2. Tyler Franks What material of bats hits the farthest?
For my science fair project I wanted to find out which of my baseball bats hit balls the farthest. The materials needed are three bats of your choice, a wide open space, five baseballs, a baseball tee, a distance wheel, supervision, and paper and pencil to record the data. The procedure I followed was to place a ball on the tee and then I swung the bat in a level motion that was easy to repeat. I hit five baseballs with each bat and measured the distance for each one then I took the average and used this number to graph the results and
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write a conclusion. The results proved my hypothesis that the aluminum bat would hit the ball the farthest. In the future, I would like to do a similar study on the materials of arrows and the distances they travel. Stuart Lewis How well do different materials fluidize?
Actual quicksand! No really! This isn’t the stuff you see in movies, this is called “fluidization”. Fluidization is where if you add air in just the right way to a solid material, it will act like a liquid. I did so with a tub of sand. I built industrialized what’s called a fluidized bed with a 40 quart container and PVC pipes. I drilled 1 millimeter holes 25 millimeters apart facing down at a 90 degree angle, then lined the pipes in a ladder formation at the bottom of the container. Then, I poured different materials in and ran air through. To measure the fluidization, I made a chart and measured on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being airflow but no fluidization 10 being fluidized). It turns out sand fluidized the best while the joint compound and all-purpose sand did not. (Measured at 50, 125, and 150 psi). Lianna Medina What color do bees like best? Will bees change their favorite color?
Do you remember the phrase busy as a Bee? Well I'm here to test how busy they can get when it comes to food with the experiment through the eyes of a bee. We put out some colored cups with sugar water. One near a beehive and one next to a food source. We did this to test if they were attracted to a certain color more or different locations better. Not a single bee went to the syrup near the beehive, but when we put it near a food source, the bees were buzzing and around the blue the most! Blue and red were emptied at around the same time, but blue was first. Then the red cup was emptied, followed by yellow, and lastly, green. This brings me to my conclusion that they liked all the colors, but favored blue above the rest. Ken Minten and Dylan Pauly-Beckstedt Bacteria
Did you know that monkeys rubbed gungalows on themselves for reasons beyond the comprehension of mankind? The reason of our experiment and our project was to find out if gungalows’ acid had antibacterial properties. Another reason we performed our experiment was, we wanted to know why gungalows had no natural predators. Hannah Neil: Research Project Snorkeling Gators
Alligators have been on the earth for millions of years. But what happens when they are challenged with ice cloaking their homes? My project was about how the alligators of Shallote River Swamp Park survived the “bomb cyclone” of North Carolina. They did this by putting their snouts above the water. Then, ice froze everything in their swamp… except the alligator snouts. They thus went into a hibernation type state where they were able to breathe. When they came out of hibernation, the ice melted and they continued their normal lives. Eavenni Persaud and Victoria Sperber What is the effect of the length of fire exposure on an object’s time to burn?
Have you ever wondered what material would burn the longest? Well we are here to put some of that wonder to rest. We took all the safe precautions so that we wouldn't burn down anything or hurt anyone. We got a little tin can and lit are objects on fire and timed how long it took to burn then recorded our results and took pictures. In the end WD-40 burned for the longest, one of the reasons being its low flash points, meaning it can ignite at basically any temperature. Our least long burning object was an eraser and we think it burned the least because it was an old one. If we were to do this again we would do it with more interesting objects like different candies and new erasers. We hope our project helped you learn about fire and what makes things burn. Fire destroys but it is so much more than destruction. It's beautiful in its own ways.
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Ronel Schjang What is the effect of different homemade light bulbs on a battery-powered circuit? Copper wires can conduct current. When a chemical reaction occurs in a battery, electrons flows from the negative end of the positive end of the battery. The end of the battery that stick out is called the positive end, or positive electrode. A complete circuit needs to be formed in order for there to be a flow of current. When graphite is heated it becomes very hot and lights up. Therefore, it is important not touch the light bulb during the experiment. This experiment can help us understand how current is generated and provides power to our homes. In the real world, electrical companies make use of similar principles like negative end and positive end of the wires to create a circuits. When we turn on our light bulbs, the circuit is already present activating a reaction to create flow of energy to light bulbs. A future study can include testing the strength of the circuit to power different items like small blades for a fan. Nick Turk How does being in paper towels, soil, or underwater affect the germination of tomatoes?
Have you ever wondered if seeds can grow without soil or underwater? Now your questions will be answered. I wanted to find out if tomato seeds would grow in different locations. So I got some pots and other containers and tested if they would sprout in a normal pot, underwater, or in paper towels. I thought there would be no change, but it was pot that always sprouted before the others. So I was incorrect, but to my interest I repeated the experiment and got much better results. To use this in real life one might need to find the most efficient way for a quick sprout of tomato seeds.
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2018 Intel ISEF-affiliated Science and Engineering Fair
ABSTRACTS th 5 Graders
Tuleen Al-Khaled Color Test! Which age is best? Did you know that depending on your age, you may see things differently? This project tests which age is best at identifying colors versus saying the word written down, depending on which part of your brain focuses on the cards. To test this idea I made flashcards, these cards have the name of a color written down in a different color. For example red is written in green. My test subjects have to say green the color the word is written down in. My results showed that the adults are the ones who did best with 8/10 correct in 15 seconds. Second grade is next with 4/10 but in 16 seconds, then fifth grade with 1/10 correct but a 15 second time. In a future study it would be important to make sure all subjects are in the same type of environment to avoid distractions. Mia Benton-Huggins and Marty Gant: Pork vs. Beef Gelatin
Pig and cow bones in marshmallows? The purpose of this project is to find out what makes a better homemade marshmallow, pork or beef gelatin. We made 2 batches of marshmallows, one batch with beef gelatin and one with pork, we waited for the marshmallows to set up, and the next day we set off in our neighborhoods and asked people to try our marshmallows and rate them based on their taste, fluffiness, sweetness and texture. The results showed that pork marshmallows were the favorite ones for fluffiness and texture, but the beef marshmallows won for taste. Overall pork marshmallows were the favorite on most categories. Further studies could include experimenting with fish or plant gelatin. Nico Forno D’Adamo and Cole Summer Hungry, Hungry Lizards
Did you know that the St. Croix Anole Lizard is only found on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands? The purpose of our project was to find out what a lizard would rather eat: insects or human food. First, we built three controlled environments for lizards 1, 2 and 3. Second, we caught 3 lizards in the backyard. After that, we put sticks and water in the containers. Then, we put the lizards in the 3 containers with the 3 insects and pieces of human food. After all that, we watched the lizards for 48 hours to see what the lizards would choose to eat. After waiting for 48 hours, the lizards did not eat anything. We then let the lizards go free. In conclusion, we believe that our lizards may have been too stressed to eat. Sierra Franklin and Priya Mittal Strawberries and Grapes in Challenging Environments
Did you know that there is over 15 types of grapes and three types of strawberries!? Our project was to figure out if strawberries can get bad faster than grapes in different environments, we also wanted to see if the mass would be the same before and after the tests. Our results showed that when left outside the strawberries got mold all over them very fast. There were not many changes occurring to the grapes. In the fridge the strawberries and grapes didn’t show many changes, they were perfectly fine. In the freezer the fruits just froze and got very hard. The mass only changed a little bit. Next time we would like to run the project for a longer period of time and include other environments. Morgan Garner No WAPA, No Worries
Did you know more solar cells are shining down on us than we could use in 12 years? I did my project to find out which type of charger charges a small car battery faster, a solar-powered charger or a generator-powered charger. In order to do my experiment I recorded the charge of the battery every 5 minutes during a 20 minute period, when charged with a solar powered charger and a generator powered charger. The generator- powered charger charged 0.3 volts more than the solar-powered charger. It probably charged faster than the solar powered-charger because the generator only depended on gas, unlike the solar charger
Good Hope Country Day School 2018 Science Fair
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that depends on a 17 degree tilt angle, how hot it is, and how bright it is. Next time it would be better to do the solar tests on different days so I could get the best time of day both times.
Kaeden Gleason Geodesic Dome – Strong or Not?
Did you know that the geodesic dome is the strongest 3D object? Well if it is, then a homemade one should be too right? That's what my project is about. I made a homemade geodesic dome out of newspaper and tape. I rolled the newspaper, then I taped the edges and slowly built up. My dome was able to hold more weight than the dome originally weighed! In the future I might use a stronger material and secure the joint better. Salma Hamed and Savanna Holley Fizzy Memory
A single soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar! So why did memory still over power that? We wanted to push the limits of memory, combine it with sugar, and test them altogether. To answer our question, we first created a simple test that included spelling and math questions, then we had people take the test before and after having water and three sugary drinks. Looking over our results was shocking, especially when we saw the tie between Coke and Root Beer. Our hypothesis was correct, we observed the most amount of differences in the tests after they drank Root Beer. We were very satisfied with our results. In the future, we think we should have a lot more questions and mix them up so each test isn't the same. We enjoyed this project very much! Jeremiah Joines Speedy Gravity
I chose this topic because I have enjoyed participating in the Soap Box Derby with Cub Scouts for several years. I wondered: if the track were steeper, would my car go faster?
I expected that the steeper the track angle, the faster the car would go, but I didn't know why, and I wasn't sure that my guess would be right. To find out, first I Googled my question. I found out that famous people in history had wondered the same thing, like Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. They found that the incline angle did affect the speed at which an angle travelled downhill. Next, my dad and I set up an experiment ourselves. We took two ten-foot pieces of 6" pipe and taped them together. We used my protractor and a lot of stuff to prop under the pipe to put it at a 20 degree angle, then 25, then 30. Each time the pipe was at an angle, I let a Hot-wheels cargo at the top. Dad was at the bottom and hit my stopwatch when the car reached the end. We let the car go five times per angle, and averaged the times for each angle. Kirra Lambert Hurricane Coming, Time to Filter Water
Above all things we need to survive water is number one! The purpose of my project was to test and compare the efficacy of a bucket water filtration system to a homemade desalination system post natural disaster when freshwater is limited. In my tests I found that the bucket water filtration system was much more efficient in producing the appropriate amount of safe water needed for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene. The homemade desalination water system took much more time to produce a small amount of freshwater. At this slow rate the desalination system would not produce enough water to keep you hydrated let alone water needed for other things. My conclusion confirmed that a bucket water system is a much more efficient way to filter water in compassion to a homemade desalination system. The bucket water system should be used in all areas where safe drinking water is hard to find for any reason. It would be very interesting to compare different types of bucket water filtration systems to see which produces the healthiest water at the lowest cost.
Good Hope Country Day School 2018 Science Fair
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Mason Lambert Sorbents‌ Materials‌ Oil? Oil spills are so bad, they can kill more fish than a whole aquarium can hold. Oil also floats on top of the water leaving no sunlight to make coral stay healthy. The purpose of my project was to see which sorbents would absorb the most oil in water. Using cotton balls, coffee filters and corn husks oil was removed from a container full of 3 cups of salt water and 1 cup of oil. The results showed that the cotton balls had the most absorptivity by far. My tests showed that my research was consistent with my results, which proved my hypothesis right. If I were to do this project again I would use more sorbents like cat hair, coconut husks and more. I would also do more test to get a more precise ratio. Nathan Langley The Ultimate Weight Lifting Contest
Did you know one of the longest bridges in the world is a suspension bridge that spans 6.95 kilometers? The purpose of my project was to see for myself which bridge is strongest. I built the bridges by making a blueprint of the bridge then placed and glued the straws on top piece by piece. My results were interesting, the beam bridge held 400g, the suspension bridge held 600g, the ark bridge held 1000g and the truss bridge held more than 1,300g. These results didn't hold my hypothesis, I thought the suspension bridge would hold the most weight but it turns out there are some important things I missed. If I were to do this again I would paid more attention to the suspension bridge by making sure all of the strings are fully tightened and making all of the bridges fully symmetrical.
Good Hope Country Day School 2018 Science Fair
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