Science Fair Back in Bloom After One Year Absence
The awards ceremony was held in the library. Anna Bukhman, Adrian Perez, and Fiona Zhao took home first place wins. Photo: Midwood Science
By RACHEL DONG and DOSTON KARIMOV
From algae to cookies to biofuels, the Science Fair made an eventful return last June.
This year’s first place winners were Anna Bukhman for the individual prize, and Adrian Perez and Fiona Zhao for the team prize. The second place winners were Cindy Li, Hamood Khan, and Victoria Ronan and Lucy Guo. Third place went to Xinwei Chen, and Emely Rivas and Katelyn Martinez. All the winners are now juniors.
The science fair was held on the second and third floors of the annex, and the awards ceremony was held in the library. More than 20 sophomores presented their findings with tri-fold posters that showcased what their studies were about. Juniors and seniors cycled through to grade the sophomores’ team and solo projects.
Bukhman was not expecting to win. “When they called my name, I didn’t register it was me,” she said. “Everyone was staring at me. My teacher nodded her head towards the trophy and I was like ‘Oh, that’s me!’ Not only did I trip over my chair but then also over my bookbag that was on the floor. My hands were shaking a tiny bit, but that was okay because I was still in that fuzzy feeling of ‘Is this real?’”
Bukhman’s first place project was about the “Effect of pH on Algae Growth,” inspired by Ms. Kimberly Lau’s ocean science lessons. Bukham hoped to find the exact factors that cause algal blooms, to help protect the environment. Certain types of algae take oxygen away from the water, killing large fish populations. This leaves anaerobic bacteria, which creates toxic waters. “If we want to keep drinking water, we need to see what we can do about algal bloom issues,” Bukhman said.
In one week, Bukhman collected all the algae and nutrients she bought online and cleaned and filled her tanks. “The algae was a bit slow to grow because it needs to get used to its surroundings, take in the nutrients, and start to photosynthesize,” she said.
But on Day 7, clusters of algae formed on the top of the water in the acidic tank. Bukhman was able to measure the amount of algae growth using a secchi disk, a black and white plastic disk attached to a string that can be lowered into the water to test visibility at different depths.
Cindy Li won second place researching “The Science Behind the ‘Perfect’ Cookie.” She tested how different baking ingredients affect the outcome of chocolate chip cookies.
Cindy Li used polling and culinary science to create the “perfect cookie.” Photo: Midwood Science
Li was inspired by her parents, who own restaurants and bakeries, and her sister, who is a culinary student. “I would frequently help my sister whenever she baked, and she would always teach me about the different roles of the baking ingredients,” Li said. Her uncle is also a baker. “I’ve been around baked goods all my life,” she said.
Li surveyed 42 participants to find the “perfect” cookie characteristics. They said they wanted their cookies to be soft (31 votes), chewy (29), crispy (20), big (18), gooey (18), thick (11), and brown (10). Li used a tiny toaster oven to bake five batches of cookies to test the baking ingredients that would match these desired characteristics.
Compared to the control group, which used unsalted butter and brown sugar, Li used irish butter and white sugar for the perfect cookie. Irish butter has a higher fat percentage and less moisture, which made the cookies crispier.
The science fair presentations were no easy task. Li presented four minute presentations four times to four judges without breaks. The temperature was not ideal either. “It was so hot, you have no idea,” said Li. “Before the science fair, I was trying to find the coldest room and I would stay in there until they actually started.”
Emely Rivas and Katelyn Martinez tested a variety of plants in hopes of finding a more efficient biofuel. Photo: Emely Rivas and Katelyn Martinez
Like Bukhman, Li was surprised by her award. Right before Mr. Glenn Elert announced the second place winners, Li looked at her teacher. “We made eye contact, her eyes widened, and then Mr. Elert said that I won,” said Li. “I was very happy.”
Emely Rivas and Katelyn Martinez won third place for their project “The Blues for Booze,” which examined the effect of different types of biomass between potatoes, corn, wheat, and grass on the efficiency of biofuel production. The goal was to find a cheaper, more efficient biofuel to be an alternative to oil.
The two created ethanol by grinding up the different crops individually and adding an enzyme to isolate cellulose from the ground crop. Next, they added another enzyme to turn the cellulose into glucose. By using active yeast, they were able to create ethanol by fermenting the glucose mixture. They collected the ethanol using a DIY distillation apparatus.
They found beets to be the best biomass because they were the richest in glucose and produced the most sugar. Rivas and Martinez felt that their discovery was something that could potentially benefit the world.
This was the fair’s first year back after remote learning, and some elements were still a bit rough around the edges.
“We didn’t have as much food as we normally have,” said Mr. Elert. “Normally, we’d like to do a big spread of food and it’s a big party. This year we just had snacks.”
After a streak of Covid absences in January led to a postponement and near cancelation, the scaled down fair was shorter than usual – just under two hours – and did not have alumni there as in previous years.
Also, the organizers only had 2020 trophies on hand, so some quick thinking led to 3D-printed, laser-cut new labels to update them for 2022. Still, for a comeback year, the challenge was to make the most of an imperfect situation.
“I’m so glad we did it [the Science Fair],” said Mr. Elert, “because we were very close to not doing it again for a second year and that would’ve been sad.”
“This year [2023], we are hoping to make the science fair a bigger event, just like we did in the past,” he said. “We hope to get the alumni back, get more food, and have more time so that everyone can hang out and have some fun.”