Expo Shows Advanced Degree of Sophistication
For Alexander Lopez, scientific inspiration came from pain. When Alexander slammed his mother’s car door on his thumb in February, he wondered why it hurt more than anything he had ever experienced.
The 13-year-old seventh-grader suspected the angle of impact had something to do with it, so he turned it into a science project: “What angle of impact has the most effect on making a bruise?”
Alexander shared his findings Tuesday at the California State Science Fair held at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. He and 953 other young scientists from 35 California counties set up their displays and explained their experiments to roving judges.
More than 300 scientists, teachers and engineers served as the judges, evaluating projects on subjects that showed sophistication (a robot that solves a Rubik’s Cube), humor (the ethnic food preferences of ants) and imagination (the effects of the lunar cycle on the rates of fatal car accidents).
Chris Gould, the director of student affairs for the state science fair, said the projects have become increasingly elaborate over the years.
In the past, a student might display a pile of rocks to demonstrate a point about geology. Now, students conduct experiments.
One example, from Matthew S. Shepherd of Los Angeles: “Elucidation of Molecular Structure and Bonding by Viscosity.”
“I would have thought that the kids were the same over the years,” Gould said. “But these days the kids are doing honest-to-God scientific projects.”
Near the entrance to the science center, Alexander explained to the judges in a soft voice how he initially considered using his younger brothers and sister as his test subjects.
“At first I thought I could use them, but they’d be hard to control,” said Alexander, a student at St. Anastasia School in Westchester. “I’d have to catch them and strap them down.”
The judges chuckled. Plus, he continued, different test subjects would react differently. He needed something more consistent.
To simulate flesh, he created a tissue-like sample using a round metal tin, a wet sponge and a cotton round covered in Saran Wrap.
He made a 2-pound weight with two faucet handles sealed inside the tip of a toy lightsaber. Then he dropped the weight through a paper-towel core onto the simulated skin at various angles.
The 90-degree angle, which is how he was hit, was the most effective in creating the bruise, which showed up as a blue, wet spot on the cotton.
“I thought he was very polished. He knew his stuff,” said Leslie P. Tae, a judge and teacher at Rolling Hills Preparatory School in Palos Verdes. “He’s a seventh-grader -- I’m very impressed with what he’s done.”
Like Alexander, 14-year-olds Brisk Kannel and Max Simmons also drew their inspiration from personal experience. They set out to create a device that would keep raccoons and neighborhood dogs from eating the food they put out for their own dogs. The Dog-E-Diner was born.
When the dog comes within 3 to 4 feet of the Dog-E-Diner, an antenna receives a signal from a card attached to its collar.
Once activated, a drawer with two side-by-side bowls slides out and stays open until the dog walks away.
The boys knew of a similar feeder, produced commercially, that is triggered when a dog steps on a pad. “But any animal could do that,” Max said.
To test their invention, the boys installed a video camera to observe the reactions of their dogs.
Initially, they said, the dogs appeared to be confused by the device, but when they saw food appear, they tolerated it.
Although their device “blew something” and stopped working about an hour before the judging was over, they said the judges liked their idea.
“About 90% of them were like, ‘I need one of those,’ ” Max said.
Brisk and Max, eighth-graders at Our Saviour Lutheran School in Livermore, hope to patent their project and put it on the market after they find a way to make it less expensive.
“It was extremely creative,” said Tracy Fiedler, a judge and engineer at Raytheon, a defense and aerospace systems supply company. “They were extremely enthusiastic.”
Max is no stranger to inventions. Last month, he sold a replica of last year’s science project -- devices for dirt bikes that make it easier to climb hills -- for $400.
“It’s just fun to see them create,” said his stepmother, Kelly Luttrell.
The boys say their next project will be a knockoff, the Kit-E-Cafe.
More than $40,000 in prizes was handed out at the fair. Even teachers were recognized. Teachers of the Year David Piercy, from Alta Sierra Intermediate School in Fresno County, and Peter Starodub, from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, won $1,000 each.
The top prize in the senior and junior division is known as the Dr. and Mrs. Arnold O. Beckman Project of the Year Award.
In the senior division, Terik Daly, a 10th-grader from Oak Grove High School in San Jose, won $10,000 for a project on “The Derivation and Interpretation of Geochemical Ratios Generated by Meteoritic Impact.”
In the junior division, Bryce W. Cronkite-Ratcliff, an eighth-grader from Woodside Elementary School in San Mateo County, won $5,000 for his project. The title combined a reference to ancient Greece with news from today’s headlines: “The Burning Mirror of Archimedes: A Weapon of Mast Destruction?”
