Youths Have Projects Down to a Science
Middle school students Allen Plata and Casey Armstrong would be among the first to say science can be fun.
Especially when they’re standing on a green stretch of golf course and knocking ball after ball to the horizon--with an eye on the Ventura County Science Fair.
It was, of course, all in the interest of education.
“It took me about three weeks of work,” said Allen, a seventh-grader at Santa Clara Elementary School in Oxnard. “But I was golfing the whole time.”
Both Allen and Casey put ball to tee in separate attempts to discover which type of golf balls fly the farthest: Would it be the expensive ones or the cheap kind?
The two may want to engage in a friendly debate about their results. Both students compared several brands, but came up with divergent results: Allen found the expensive brand did the trick; Casey swears he’s switching to the cheaper ones after his experiment.
Nonetheless, they agreed on one thing: It was worth the effort.
“Science isn’t my best subject, but I’m getting better,” said Casey, a seventh-grader at Colina Middle School in Thousand Oaks. “I like coming here and learning.”
At the Ventura County Science Fair on Wednesday, judges roamed rows of cardboard presentations at the county fairgrounds as about 1,150 students proved their scientific mettle with projects ranging from the everyday practical to the more esoteric.
Students from fifth grade through high school entered projects aimed at discerning everything from which bubble gum flavor lasts the longest to how best to clean up an oil spill. A host of displays looked to make consumers’ lives better--from the longest-lasting batteries to the most effective toothbrush.
The health effects of tobacco proved to be a major theme, after some encouragement by the county superintendent’s office, said Morley Cohen, the fair’s director.
“There’s great scientific knowledge out there,” Cohen said. “All in all, they seem more complex. I’m seeing greater care for detail.”
Indeed, the level of the junior scientists’ inquiry impressed many of the 275 judges--a roster of scientists, doctors and others from the Ventura County area. They took their responsibility very seriously.
“What really captures the attention are projects that look at real problems that are timely,” said one judge, Sue Broidy, a Ventura field representative for Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara).
“We’re looking at the young people who could be solving the problems we have created,” agreed fellow judge Judy Bysshe of Ventura, a former school assistant principal.
The judges will choose winners in 16 categories among three age groups, as well as hand out special awards sponsored by county organizations. First-, second- and third-place winners will advance to the California State Science Fair in Los Angeles. Projects are available for free public viewing today from 2 to 6 p.m. Winners will be announced at 6:30 p.m.
A fair number of exhibits set out to dispel marketing myths. Nina Brahme of Oak Park--whose mother is a dentist--said she grew tired of listening to hyperbolic toothbrush ads, so she pitted the newfangled curvy ones extolled on TV commercials to a generic flat head. The old-fashioned cheap kind, she contends, works better than the others, despite their competitors’ multilevel bristles and sleek, aerodynamic heads.
“I thought, ‘There are so many different kinds,’ ” the Medea Park Middle School student said. “I think they’re just trying to hype it up.”
Jeffrey Tillquist of Oxnard had more personal reasons to pursue his project. His uncle is a smoker, and he said he hoped his project--which measures the tar in several brands of cigarettes--might influence the man.
“I figured if I showed him my results he might quit,” the Rio del Valle Middle School eighth-grader said.
Even if he doesn’t meet that goal, Jeffrey at least has proved something to himself: He’s got a low tolerance for cigarette smoke.
“I wanted to stop the experiment,” he said. “I couldn’t stand the smell.”
