Does pee in a pool effect chlorine levels? What are the effects of chemical versus environmental cleaners? How does alcohol and caffeine impact a heart rate?
Those questions and more were posed by this year’s contingent of six Johnston High School students who participated in last weekend’s Rhode Island Science and Engineering Fair (RISEF). And like a chemical reaction, each of those six students sparked and earned a place in the competition.
According to Mark Fontaine, Director of RISEF, the purpose of the fair is to promote science and engineering education and investigation by students who participate in authentic, real-world, independent research.
This year, approximately 200 students, representing more than 30 schools, participated in the state’s premier science and engineering educational competition. They were chosen from more than 2,000 students who completed science projects at their schools. Students competed for first, second and third-place awards as well as scholarships. Johnston’s Science Fair, held last month, saw 214 entries and six first place winners who moved on to the statewide competition. Those winners were senior Benjamin Budway, Brandon DeCesare, Julianna Ferruccio, Nicholas Gallo, Taylor Medeiros and Megan Philbrick.
Judges used a rubric broken down into major categories: originality, scientific thought, clarity and thoroughness, among others. Special attention is given to the students’ papers, typically 12 to 25 pages in length. A scorecard is then generated that ranged from zero to 95, which is used to tabulate winners.
Johnston High’s six participants took full advantage of the opportunity the fair presented and each was awarded for their methods.
Freshman Julianna Ferruccio, who received first grant for her project entitled No Silver Lining, tested the effects of tiny particles of silver on daphnia, a small planktonic crustacean. She tested the heart rates and death rates of the microorganism once they were exposed.
“Nanosilver is in everything, it’s in everything from athletic socks to Band-Aids because it’s like a natural antibiotic and it fights bacteria,” said Ferruccio. “This nanosilver can get into wastewater and find its way into freshwater, and so I wanted to know what it can do to freshwater organisms.”
Brandon DeCesare, a freshman who focused on cleaners with his project called “The effects of chemical cleaners vs. environmentally friendly substances at inhibiting pathogen growth and cleaning.” DeCesare earned a second place grant for his work.
“I wanted to figure out if the environmentally friendly combination of hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice and vinegar were better then a harsher cloro-foam. In conclusion, it was equal to cloro-foam,” he said.
Sophomore Megan Philbrick’s science entry focused on one of the more intriguing aspects of summer activities with her project, “Urea’s effect on chlorine levels.” For her work, she received a second place grant.
“I’ve always wondered how certain things affect the chlorine levels in pools, and one of the biggest things that can affect a pool is pee,” said Philbrick, who used a urea solution that she ordered from a chemical company rather than the real thing. “If there’s a lot of urea in a pool it takes away the acids in the pool that are used to disinfect.”
Escape Room 113, the brainchild of junior Nicholas Gallo, was a game created by the young scientist by using a program to develop and code a game that mimics his own science class. Starting in November taking classes online and watching Youtube videos, his efforts earned him a second place grant.
“I was definitely interested in this topic and it’s definitely something that I’d like to pursue more,” said Gallo “I like to be creative, and this can definitely show creativity and you can express yourself.”
Taylor Medeiros, a senior, earned a second place grant for her project, “How alcohol and caffeine impact heart rate.” She used alcohol and caffeine on the microorganism daphnia and monitored how the substances changed the way daphnia behaved, going so far as to count the microorganism’s heartbeat per minute.
“I had a lot of fun; this was quite interesting. I never realized before that this was something I could have done or tested,” she said.
Senior Benjamin Budway, who also earned second place grant for his submission “Launch Angle,” focused on launching a wooden ball off a ramp to see what the ideal angle was to allow the ball to travel the farthest. Through testing, his results concluded that an angle of 35.7 degrees was optimal for a given height.
“I always have fun with this,” said Budway, who is still waiting to hear from colleges for next year.
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