ASHLAND – The tri-fold boards and binders that filled Ashland University’s convocation center Saturday represented thousands of hours of designing, implementing and analyzing experiments.
Students used their self-directed science fair projects as an opportunity to answer some of their most pressing questions.
Do vibrations make bacteria grow differently when you play Mozart than when you play Metallica? Does homemade laundry detergent work as well as store-bought versions? Does chewing gum improve your shots on the basketball court?
They’re projects the young scientists who created them won’t soon forget.
The 197-student participants in the 58th annual Mohican District Science Day represented 34 schools in Ashland, Richland, Erie, Holmes, Huron, Lorain, Medina, and Wayne counties. Each of the 5th through 12th grade participants were already “winners,” earning superior ratings at their schools to qualify for the district level.
The top 73 students from the district level are eligible to advance to the state competition at The Ohio State University on May 12.
Among those moving on are twins Elyse and Alaina Reed, both freshmen at Ashland High School.
Alaina’s project contrasted the disinfecting capabilities of all-natural cleaners versus antimicrobial disinfectants on a food preparation surface after contamination from raw poultry.
Elyse evaluated plastic particulate matter in diverse sources of bottled water.
Saturday marked Alaina’s third time at the district science fair and Elyse’s fourth, and they’ll be heading to the state level for the third and fourth times respectively.
Elyse, who took home the Governor’s Award for Environmental Protection Science, said she and her twin enjoy the science fair every year.
“In middle school it was mandatory, but we enjoyed it so much we decided to do it in high school,” Elyse said. “It combines two things I’m very interested in, the environmental and the ethical part of science, and presenting it. I enjoy public speaking, and this has really allowed me to flourish in my public speaking skills.”
Alaina was one of three recipients of the Outstanding Student Award. She also qualified for the Buckeye Science and Engineering Fair, which is a qualifying fair for an international science fair event.
Alaina said she loves talking to the judges about her science projects.
“At the higher levels you get to talk to judges who know a lot more about your topic,” she said. “You can learn more, and I think it’s a very interesting thing about science outside the classroom.”
Other Outstanding Student Award recipients were Ontario High School’s Lin Abigail Tan and Ashland High School’s Jennifer Powell.
Dozens of students were recognized with special awards and scholarships, and several schools also won awards for having the most superior ratings or having the highest percentage of participants earn superiors.
At the high school level, Northwestern High School had the most superiors and Horizon Science Academy had the highest percentage of superiors.
In the middle school category, Lakeridge Academy had the most superiors as well as the highest percentage of superiors.
For the elementary level, Columbia Middle School, St. Francis Xavier and St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception all tied for the most superiors.
Mapleton had the highest percentage of superiors with 100 percent of participating elementary students earning superiors.
