Whiz Kids Win Awards in Statewide Science Fair

The Connecticut Science Fair, a yearly event that draws 7^th through 12^th grade students from throughout the state and nearby New York towns, was held at Quinnipiac University in Hamden from March 13-17. According to the website, “More than 15,000 students from more than 120 schools and regional fairs compete for the 500 spaces at the State Fair.”

 Among those who participated in the event, Bethel boasts a fair share of award winning students. 

Aidan Ford, 11^th grade, won an award from the Audubon Connecticut and Arch Chemicals Environmental Awards, High School finalist in Audubon gifts, bringing home a CSF Medallion and Acrylic Award. Her project, entitled “Pigeon Talk: A Bio-Acoustical Analysis of Variation in Male Fantail Pigeon Display Calls”, included recordings of the several different pigeons. Using a program to convert the sounds to images, Ford was able to prove that each call was different with every bird, and that there are tonal differences which identify the birds individually within their flock. Ford, who said she loves the birds, said there has not been a lot of research in this area, and that her work “opened up a whole new element of study.”

 Tenth grader Elizabeth Locke based her project on finding new ways to clean up oil spills. Using motor oil to create her “spills,” Locke initially tried to remove the oil with different kinds of fur and hair. She explained that there are differences between crude oil and refined oil that challenge clean-up efforts. “In the ocean,” Locke said, “when there is an oil spill, they burn it, but there is a residue that sinks to the bottom of the ocean and it hurts the wildlife. ”

 Locke tried to burn the motor oil but found it did not burn. She then tried a product called EnviroBond, which is a powder that caused the oil to become a solid. Her project was noted by the US Army, who awarded her a certificate and a $50 Savings Bond.

In Bethel Middle School, eighth grader Nicholas Cazzaniga created a environmentally sound method of repelling ants. Describing the inspiration for his project, he said, “I am really interested in insects, and I combined a lot of ideas I found on the computer.”

 Being careful not to hurt the ants was important to him, and he didn't want to expose people or pets to chemicals. “I didn't want to do anything to kill them off. I wanted to do something that wouldn't hurt the ants and was beneficial to people.”

 After testing different materials, Cazzaniga's project, “The Effect of Different Organic Materials on the Number of Ants Repelled”, showed that ants will even bypass candy if the common household spice cumin is in their path.

 Cazzaniga won several awards for his project including, Pfizer Life Sciences Awards, 5^th Place, Life Sciences 8^th Grade trophy and Invite to Compete Broadcom Masters. Audubon Connecticut and Arch Chemicals Environmental Awards, Middle School Finalist, for which he took home an Audubon gifts, a CFS Medallion and an Acrylic Award.

Two seventh graders, Jessica MacIntyre and Kallan Hook, are friends outside of school and noticed that their families had suffered with problems with rust. They sought to come up with metals that would function rust free and might work well for pipes. Working with salt and water, they wanted to see the effect they might have on various metals including copper, aluminum, steel and stainless steel.

 Their experiment showed that a white crust was left on the metals when they dried and according to MacIntyre, the salt “ate away at the metals.”

 “Our families have spent thousands of dollars on rust repairs. We found that zinc, galvanized steel and steel didn't rust no matter how much salt was used,” Hook and MacIntyre said.

For their work, they placed as finalists in Dominion's Millstone Power Station Physical Sciences Awards, Physical sjr Team, and brought home the CSJ Medallion and Acrylic Award. The American Society for Metals, Hartford Chapter presented the girls with a $100 check.

 Congratulations, Bethel students!