Students Share Research at 2015 Science Fair
The 7th annual DMPS Science Fair was held Thursday, February 12 at the Science Center of Iowa. 216 middle and high school students presented 191 different research projects to judges, parents, teachers and the public.
Last night was the annual super-collider where adolescent uncertainty and self-consciousness meet man’s thirst for knowledge and instinct for inquiry, aka the District Science Fair at, where else, the Science Center of Iowa.
In lieu of lab coats and PowerPoints are Sunday bests and a cavalcade of cardboard tri-folds. Besides raw data contestants vie for the judges’ attention and favor with nuance like especially groomed hair and erect posture, hands folded knowingly; confidently. “I am ready for you, bring it!” they exude before springing into “I thought you’d never ask,” action whenever someone with a clipboard, a pen, a rubric and a question or two pulls over.
McCombs 8th grader Adam Ahlberg drew the immediate interest of one observer who’s anxious for spring training to open next week with his exhibit entitled Baseball Interiors.
With a “contraption” he devised out of 2x4s and a bat to repeat a constant swing velocity Adam tested the aerodynamics of balls used in t-ball, regular little league and the real McCoy, a genuine MLB ball. Turns out what the balls are made of has maybe as much to do with how far they fly as what the batters are made of.
Part of Adam’s research delved into what’s known in the annals of the game as the Dead Ball Era so there was that element of history as a bonus to all the scientific mumbo jumbo.
The high school division was metaphorically placed upstairs and seemed preoccupied with contagion given all of the projects dealing with bacteria and disinfectants and chlorine and antibiotics. One exception to that trend was the entry submitted by Nosa Ali and Jacob Thompson from Roosevelt/Central Academy. Does Size Matter would seem to settle the age-old debate about, you know, the most efficient configuration of wind turbine blades. The sophomore scientists also know a thing or two about settling debates since they both are part of Roosevelt’s vaunted forensics program.
The event always provides a condensed demonstration of the explosive development that happens between 6th and 12th grades. A quick scan of the titles in the program triggers a time lapse video in the mind’s eye. From baking soda volcanos and analysis of the sleekest design for paper airplanes to “Detection of Myosin Light Chains in Iowa Fish Muscle Proteins through Western Blot Immuno-detection and SDS-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis” in six exciting, thrilling, awkward, mind-blowing, but not exactly easy years.
Here’s a list of last night’s winners out of a field of more than 200 contestants who will advance to the state competition next month at Hilton Coliseum on the campus of Iowa State University:
6TH GRADE
Life Sciences
- First Place: Meghan Gentsch, Merrill Middle School
- Second Place (tie): Lindsay Whitehead, Cowles Montessori
- Second Place (tie): Cecile Lorenzen, Merrill Middle School
- Second Place (tie): Elizabeth Saunders, Merrill Middle School
- Third Place (tie): Lauren Carpenter, Merrill Middle School
- Third Place (tie): Noah Carstens, Merrill Middle School
- Third Place (tie): Olivia Ovrom, Merrill Middle School
Physical Sciences
- First Place (tie): Yanni Antoniou, Merrill Middle School
- First Place (tie): Cael Fitch, Merrill Middle School
- Second Place: Cooper Kissell, Merrill Middle School
- Third Place: David Williams, Cowles Montessori
7TH GRADE
Life Sciences
- First Place: Jennifer Robles, Meredith Middle School
- Second Place (tie): Greta Akers, Cowles Montessori
- Second Place (tie): Laurynn Lovan and Aliciah Vasquez, Weeks Middle School
- Third Place (tie): Lindsey Dueling, Brody Middle School
- Third Place (tie): D’Angelo Saltzman, Brody Middle School
Physical Sciences
- First Place: Grace Twelmeyer, Brody Middle School
- Second Place: Hazer Becic, Merrill Middle School
- Third Place (tie): Sydney Wright, Brody Middle School
- Third Place (tie): Brooklyn Mills, Weeks Middle School
8TH GRADE
Life Sciences
- First Place: Mikayla Rodriguez, Weeks Middle School
- Second Place: Aracely Miron-Ocampo, Meredith Middle School
- Third Place: Louise Bequeaith, Cowles Middle School
Physical Sciences
- First Place: Ricardo Ortega, McCombs Middle School
- Second Place: Adam Ahlberg, McCombs Middle School
- Third Place: Shakira Stiefvater, Dayvion Thompson, & Katherine Berber-Solis, Callanan Middle School
HIGH SCHOOL
Life Sciences
- First Place: Benjamin Brewer, Central Campus
- Second Place: Kyle Roberts, Central Campus
- Third Place: Mason Rhodes, Central Campus
Physical Sciences
- First Place: Nosa Ali & Jacob Thompson, Central Academy
- Second Place: Danielle Espinosa-Gonzalez Bellolio, North High School
- Third Place: Joseph Murdock and Carissa Villanueva, Roosevelt High School
