Middle and high school science fair winners announced
Christopher Weyer from Lake Ridge Middle School recently received top honors for his science fair project, “Produce-ing Power,” as did Sarah Bui from Battlefield High School for her project, “The Effect of Nasal Breathing and Forehead Cooling on the Incidence of Contagious Yawning,” at the Middle/Senior Division of the Prince William County-Manassas Regional Science Fair. Weyer’s project won first place in the chemistry category before going on to be selected as a Grand Prize winner. Likewise, Bui’s project took first in the behavioral science competition before earning a Grand Prize award.
The western Prince William winners are as follows: Middle School DivisionIn the animal science category, honorable mention went to Grant Scott of Marsteller for The Effect of Soil Type on Worm Habitat Preference.In the behavioral science category, Rachel Carie from Marsteller won first for 3 x 3 =? The Effect of Multiplication Teaching Methods on the Test Scores of Children; Maureen Coffey of Stonewall Middle won second for Simply Lemonade and Rachel Lewandowski of Seton won third for Put Down The Cell Phone and No One Gets Hurt. Honorable mentions were awarded to Aundrea Bobenmoyer of Linton Hall for Memory and Color and Megan Yetman of Bull Run for The Effect of the Amount of Stress on the Ability to Count Backwards and Megan Letos of Gainesville Middle for Does Music Affect a Mouse’s Memory?In biochemistry, Meagan Curtis of Gainesville Middle won second for The Effect of Fruit Variety on Gas Production Rates; Lisuo Peacher of Marsteller won third for Swallowing Gum and Ashley Kate Keiser of Marsteller won honorable mention for Bacteria vs. Disinfectant.In chemistry, second place went to Emilie Neely of Marsteller for The Effect of Home Siding on Flammability and Flame Spread Rate and honorable mention went to Patrick Gough of Bull Run for The Effect of Different Liquids on Tooth Decay.In computer science, Terry Jones from Gainesville Middle took first for The Effect of Hard Drive on the Time It Takes to Copy Files; and Nina Prasad from Linton Hall took honorable mention for Computer-Generated Poetry.In Earth science, first place was awarded to Alexa Dantzler from Linton Hall for Wind: A Natural Energy Source; third place went to James Harbour of Seton for Can Water Float on Water? Honorable mentions were given to a team made up of James Poling, Timothy Nordan and Ryan Sybertz from Marsteller for What is the Effect of Amount of Chemical Solution on Crystal Mass.In engineering, honorable mention awards were given to Laura Szczyrba of Bull Run for PULL-EASE! The Effect of the Number of Pulleys on the Force Needed to Lift a Weight and to Harold Shablom of Bull Run for The Wright Phoenix.In environmental sciences, a Marsteller team made up of Lauren Osinski, Rachel Hosseini and Angelica Babauta took first for Green Cooking; second place went to Brett Thompson of Gainesville Middle for Effective Waste Management; and honorable mention went to Jacqueline Penders of Linton Hall for Lead Leachability and Binding in Shooting Range Soils.In math, Benjamin Lemons of Marsteller took second for Baseball Pitchers ERA; third place went to Kevin Keller from Bull Run for A Mathematical Study of Population Balance Within a Social Species; and honorable mentions were awarded to Jack Solomon of Linton Hall for RNG: Man vs. Machine and Kari Willett of Linton Hall for Lost and Found.In medicine and health, first place went to Aleco Reynolds of Bull Run for The Effect of Color on The Contrast Threshold Function of the Human Eye.In microbiology, Melissa Thai of Stonewall Middle took first for Is This What I’m Drinking; and honorable mentions went to Sierra DeBoard of Bull Run for Furry Fruit: The Effect of Different Types of Fruit on Mold Growth and Katherine Lash of Gainesville Middle for Germ Away.In physics and astronomy, Stephen Shaw of Seton took second for Can You Give Me a Lift? Matthew Wampler from Marsteller won third for What is the Effect of Different Length Skis on How Fast They Move? Christine Choi of Gainesville Middle got an honorable mention for Rubber Band Pitch and Brian Hammack of Stonewall Middle got an honorable mention for The Effect of Metal Type on Thermal Conduction.In the plant sciences category, first place went to Adam Kern of Marsteller for What is the Effect of Microwave Exposure Time on Seed Germination? Third went to David Lambrecht of Seton for Popping Madness; and honorable mention went to Ashley MacConnell of Bull Run for The Effect of Different Amounts of Light on the Growth of a Tomato Plant. Senior DivisionIn the animal sciences category, first place was awarded to Rebecca Wescott of Battlefield for How Do Sleeping Pills Effect Daphnias Heart Rate? Third went to Michele Mahoney from Battlefield for The Effect of Light Intensity and Allergen Levels on Freeway’s Trigeminal-Mediated Headshaking.In the behavioral and social sciences category, first went to Sarah Bui of Battlefield for The Effect of Nasal Breathing and Forehead Cooling on the Incidence of Contagious Yawning; second went to Sara Chehreh of Battlefield for The Effect of Sight, Hearing, and Touch on Learning a Number Sequence; third was given to Keith Hedrick and Connor Geiran of Seton for Under Pressure: Pressures of Temperament; and honorable mention was given to a Seton team made up of Jessica Dunn, Mary Dobak and Katie Racine for Does Color Affect the Perception of Taste.In biochemistry, first place went to Gabriella Baldo of Seton for The Effects of a Biotin-Rich Diet on Drosophila Melanogaster; second went to Shin Jang of Battlefield for The Effect of Different pH Levels on the Digestion of Proteins; and third went to Jessica Jacobson of Battlefield for The Effect of Epinephrine on the Oxygen Release of Tissue.In chemistry, Katelyn Walters of Battlefield took first for The Effect of Various Fruits on EthanolProduction and Efficiency; Amanda Desbiens and Rachel Santschi of Seton took second for My Pants are on Fire: The Flammability of Fabric; third place went to Margaret Guckenberg of Battlefield for The Effect of Coffee Brands on the Quantity of Caffeine; honorable mention was awarded to Mary Fowler of Seton for The Fastest Dissolving Solution.In computer science, Seton team made up of Caroline Collins, Anne Misimann and Kathryn Scheetz won first for Eye-dentification: Analysis of the External Characteristics of the Eye as a Form of Identification; and David Winings of Stonewall Jackson took second for From C to Shining C.In engineering, second place went to Riley Cooke of Stonewall Jackson for Run Robot Run; honorable mentions were given to Lisa Apted of Stonewall Jackson for The Effect of Damping on a Shock Absorber and Regan Lovelady of Stonewall Jackson for Pin-Hole Camera.In Earth science, Brianna Duffy of Stonewall Jackson won first for Air Tides: Moon Phases vs. Barometric Pressure; Brett Plaugher of Stonewall Jackson took second for How Does the Angle of the Sun Affect the Temperature of Water; and third went to Lauren Panell of Battlefield for The Effect of the Type of Soil on Moisture Retention.In environmental sciences, first place went to Jagmeet Warraich of Battlefield for The Effect of Acid Concentration on the Buffering Capacity of Different Soil Samples; third place went to Katelyn Power of Battlefield for The Effect of Pesticides on the Oxidation of Sea Shells; Rishi Saxena of Stonewall Jackson took honorable mention for Amount of Burned Area on Wood with Different Paints.In mathematics, first place went to Soraya Simon and Fiama Aguirre of Battlefield for The Effect of Blood Substitutes on the Reliability of Trigonometric Analysis of Blood Spatter; second went to a Seton team made up of Renee Roccato, Scott Jemielity and Ginny Zimmerman for Phi in Your Face: An Examination of the Relationship Between Phi and Maturing Human Faces; and third went to Rachel Lambrecht of Seton for The Birthday Paradox Mathematics. Grant Bodner of Battlefield took honorable mention for The Effect of Pascal’s Triangle on a Coin Toss.In medicine and health, first place went to Amanda Mazzu of Battlefield for The Effect of Orlistat Dosage on Amount of Triacylglyceride Hydrolyzed; and third place went to Peter Mooney of Seton for Judging From Your Reaction.In microbiology, Alexis Wissinger of Stonewall Jackson took second for Germaphobia; and Kristina Baehr of Stonewall Jackson took third for Does Bacteria Become Resistant to Cleaning Product? Jerome Tolson of Stonewall Jackson won honorable mention for Damaging Hair Cells.In physics and astronomy, first place went to Kevin Coffey of Stonewall Jackson for In the Heat of the Light; and honorable mentions went to Paul Duda of Seton for I’m Seeing Stars … and Circles? The Relationship Between Star Trails and One’s Location on Earth and to Blaise DuFrain and Megan Hoffer of Seton for Particle Pawprints: Building a Home-Made Bubble Chamber.In plant sciences, first place went to Rachel Brigham of Battlefield for The Inquisition of Enigmatic Sphaerobolus; second place went to Abigail Quinan of Seton for Blue is My Favorite Color; and honorable mentions went to Laura Talbot of Seton for Does The Amount of Carbon Dioxide Change the Growth of Lima Bean Plants and William Gauldin of Stonewall Jackson for The Effects of Radiation on the Germination Process in Radish Seeds.