Young scientists compete at L.A. fair
Even if you are a science prodigy, it helps to have a little backup.
In Robert Hollar’s case, that was finding a thrust equation for his hover aircraft. So, he simply queried his father, Ricky Hollar, an engineer.
“He put me in touch with a rocket scientist who gave me an exact formula,” said the 14-year-old Ribet Academy student. “That was a big help.”
Robert joined more than 1,000 middle and high school students at the L.A. Convention Center on Saturday competing in the 57th annual Los Angeles County Science Fair, which concludes today. More than 700 projects were entered in categories ranging from astrophysics to zoology. Students competed for prizes of cash, medals and scholarships. The winners will face off in the California State Science Fair next month.
At the L.A. County contest, the theme, “Today’s students, tomorrow’s problem solvers,” is especially appropriate given today’s global warming issues, said fair President Dean Gilbert.
“Today’s students are being charged with the stewardship of the planet later,” he said. “The fair allows them to take their natural curiosity and display it at a young age.”
Ecological issues were the subject of many projects.
Nathaniel Foote, an avid diver and a junior at Ribet Academy in L.A., documented the devastating effects of carbon dioxide on coral reefs. And Swati Yanamadala, a junior at the Chadwick School on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, continuing her four-year study on pollution in the Ballona Wetlands, found this year that the effects extended to the beach’s sand as well.
“It’s important because these are disease-causing bacteria,” Yanamadala said. “This is an issue that should be important to us all.”
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