SYLMAR : Sixth-Grader Advances in Science Contest

A sixth-grader who used an electric current to separate the elements of water won a science contest at Sylmar Elementary School, taking her one step closer to a trip to NASA’s futuristic Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.

Alejandra Argote of Sylmar won first place at the science contest, held Tuesday as part of the LA’s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) program. The program, sponsored by the Los Angeles mayor’s office, began in 1988 to provide enriching extracurricular activities for students in low-income areas.

Alejandra was one of about 35 students who researched and developed science projects in their spare time. The soft-spoken student said she came up with the idea for her project by researching science experiments in the school library.

She added that she was surprised to win first place and advance to a regional contest in June against students from other LA’s BEST programs. Five finalists from the regional competition will win a trip to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s educational camp.

“I really thought Militza was going to win,” Alejandra said, referring to sixth-grader Militza Cummings. Militza, of Littlerock, was named runner-up by a panel of judges that included a parent, a teacher, a city official and an assistant principal.

Militza built a galvanometer--an instrument used to detect weak electrical currents--out of a piece of Styrofoam, a pencil, wires, a battery, vinegar and a compass.

But it was Alejandra’s project, which used a battery to create an electric current in water, resulting in different-sized bubbles representing the elements of hydrogen and oxygen, that won over the judges.

“Hydrogen bubbles more than oxygen does; that’s how you tell them apart,” Alejandra said.

Second place went to Erika Sanchez, a sixth-grader from Sylmar who used salt to fuse a piece of string to an ice cube. She then illustrated the interaction of the elements by picking up the ice with the string.

Third place was won by Renee Perales, another sixth-grader from Sylmar who showed how carbon dioxide is released when baking soda and acid are mixed.