With her project titled, “The Making of my Electrocardiogram,” Oakwood School junior Renee Bostak hoped to discover indicators of a heart condition. Classmate Monte Williams’ project used science to compare the water quality in different South County communities. Britton Middle School duo Diya Kendhra and Nikoo Shahab tested for the best renewable fuels.
These were just some of the experiments presented by local students at the Jan. 11 South Valley Science Fair.
Bostak, 16, performed stress tests, both mental and physical, on three people in hopes that it would reveal whether they suffered a possible life-threatening ailment.
“I wanted to find out if they had a heart condition before it was too late,” said Bostak, whose investigation led her to a first-place blue ribbon at the Jan. 11 competition held at Oakwood. “I had them put their finger on this sensor to see which affected their heart rate the most.”
Her willing participants performed jumping jacks as a physical test and puzzle-solving as a mental test, after which she gauged their heart rate.
“Those who were in better shape took less time to come down to their regular heart rate, while (for) those who were in lesser shape it was harder for them to come down to their regular heart rate,” said Bostak, whose favorite subject is biology. She plans to go into the medical field for a career.
Bostak was one of dozens of high school and middle school students from Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy and San Jose who competed in the annual South Valley Science Fair.
“It’s just a great opportunity every year. The students’ ingenuity never ceases to amaze me,” said Sean Wilmot, a science teacher at Oakwood. “There has to be more to science than just taking a test and doing homework, and this is what that is. It allows them to go outside of the textbook.”
Kendhra and Shahab, eighth graders at Britton Middle School, were up for the challenge. They took home their second blue ribbon in as many months for their project titled, “A Duel Between Fuels.” They had previously won the Britton fair.
“We improved our board from last time….We are excited to go to the county competition now,” Kendhra said. “Winning is one thing, but it was awesome just to be here. I’m just happy to see all of the other students’ projects all around us.”
Britton science teacher Jim Levis was proud of all his students who entered into the South Valley fair after completing the school event.
“We had a number of students who never expected to place at the Britton fair, so they came to the regional,” Levis said. “A number of them revisited their presentations and got more data, and clarified their data before this one.”
Williams, an Oakwood junior, tested the water quality using a water kit to compare the results from San Jose, Gilroy and Morgan Hill for his experiment, titled “South Bay Water Testing.”
“I thought San Jose would have the best water because it has the biggest population,” said Williams, who added that he felt safe drinking the water in any of the three cities after his findings. Each city had varying degrees of clarity and particles in the water.
Oakwood classmate Guru Singh got inventive for his project titled, “Raspberry Pi Garage Door Opener App,” which was inspired by his mother always asking him if he closed the garage door. The 16-year-old placed a magnet sensor on his garage door that would indicate if it was open or closed, and that information was relayed through a computer program to an app on his phone.
“I like science, but I really like to build stuff,” Singh said.
Sophomore Valerie Doah delved into the chemistry of things for her science experiment, titled “Which is better at neutralizing acid reflux: Natural antacids or Chemical antacids?” She used different over-the-counter antacids and compared them to natural ones such as turmeric, cinnamon milk and tea.
“The natural antacids are better,” said Doah, who tested the pH levels to draw her conclusions.
The countywide science fair, called the Synopsys Science and Technology Championship, is scheduled for March 14-15 at the San Jose Convention Center.
“We want to see more South County people involved in that,” said Heidi Black, who is on the board of directors for the Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association. “There are so many opportunities. We want to see you all participating.”
Behavioral Sciences
High School
1st: Blake Mercurio: The Effect of Exercise on Memory
2nd: Ali Rastbaf: Does Music Affect Typing?
3rd: Crystal Li: Lending Lies
Middle School
1st: Kristoble Chaisson: Battle of the Sexes
2nd: Tejar Oza: Chromebook Watch
Chemistry
High School
1st: Maddy Hagen: Chemical Rx Rates of UV Beads
2nd: Valerie Doan: Which is better at neutralizing acid reflux?
3rd: Claire Murphy: Science of Calorimetry
Middle School
1st: Diya Kendhra and Nikoo Shahab: A Duel Between Fuels
2nd: Danya Balagopal: Absorption Effects of Moringa
3rd: Jake Lemieux: Reactive Electrolyte: Positive or Negative
Computer Science/Math
High School
1st: Renee Bostak: The Making of my Electrocardiogram
2nd: Abbas Rajhans: Building and Testing a Gel Electrophoresis Chamber
3rd: Robert Walker: Building a Working Supercomputer: An Experiment in Parallel Processing.
Middle School
1st: Kaden Roschuk: Popsicle Bridges
2nd: Adam Mayberg: Donut Cone
3rd: Daegon Thomas: Screen Fade Program
Physics
High School
1st: Annie Rickard: The Effect of a Swimmers Height on the Length of their Dive
2nd: Matthew Marcotullio: Investigating the Relationship between Tire Pressure and Vehicle Efficiency
3rd: Colin Moosman: The Efficiency of Playing Soccer on Different Surfaces
Biology
High School
1st: Grace Chapman: How Sleep Time and Caffeine Affect Reaction Time
2nd: Hannah Selby: The Effect of Water Contention On Plant Growth
3rd: Aidan Tacklind: Smoking: Is it Worth It?
Middle School
1st: Ayana Wilmot: Determination of Photosynthetic Capacity of Lichens in Mars-like Conditions
2nd: Katerina Ruiz/Gelasia Tiwana: Feeling Sick?
3rd: Natalie Austin: Algae Growth in River Water in Different Light
