Students shine at state science fair

Crescenta Valley High School sophomore Easun Arunachalam last week turned a science project into a first place win and $700 in prizes at the California State Science Fair.

The 14-year-old La Crescenta resident’s statewide win came in the pharmacology/toxicology category for a project titled “Pesticides: Cure or Curse?” in which he examined the unintended effects of pesticides.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” Easun said. “There were several very formidable looking projects in my category. It was a welcome surprise.”

His win followed on the heels of a first-place finish last month at the Los Angeles County Science Fair at the Pasadena Convention Center.

The California State Science Fair took place May 2-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and included 1,000 students, grades six through 12, from 403 schools. Students competed for $50,000 in prizes in 22 categories, including cognitive science, mathematics and software and microbiology.

Megan Yuen at Toll Middle School and Hagop Margossian at Chamlian Armenian School — both in eighth grade — were also recognized for their work, earning an honorable mention in the cognitive science and biochemistry/molecular biology categories, respectively.

Hagop was one of five Chamlian students to advance to the state-level competition.

“They were really thrilled to be part of the competition,” said Lida Gevorkian, Chamlian science fair coordinator. “They could see the other projects and the level of competition and they were proud of themselves to be a part of it.”

Easun began thinking about his project a year in advance, researching pesticides — including atrazine, malathion and Roundup — that are commonly sprayed from small aircraft onto fields. He first measured which pesticide was most harmful by planting seeds in a pesticide solution and quantifying how many of the seeds germinated. He also used a hemocytometer — a device used to count cells — to study the effect of the pesticides on algae.

“I just think science is interesting because it gives you more freedom to research a topic that you have a passion for,” Easun said. “You can make your own questions and conduct your own study in a way that makes sense to you. You can draw conclusions from your own work, not something you read in a textbook.”

Orenda Tuason, coordinator for the Crescenta Valley’s Academy of Science and Medicine, which sponsored Easun at the fair, said he managed the project from start to finish with little assistance from his teachers or parents.

“What I loved about it was every time he contacted anybody who I recommended or suggested, he would always ‘cc’ it to me,” Tuason said. “He would make sure I knew what was going on. I was never in the dark about anything. That is just a hallmark of a great student.”