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Turner Middle School Science Fair winners announced

December 29, 2016 | Education
TMS student Genevieve Babyak used the science fair to find the place at school with the most germs.  Photo by Bob McDonnell, the Surveyor

TMS student Genevieve Babyak used the science fair to find the place at school with the most germs. Photo by Bob McDonnell, the Surveyor

By Bob McDonnell
The Surveyor

This year’s Turner Middle School Science Fair found all 143 eighth graders displaying their projects in the school’s gym, according to Kevin Gonzales, the school’s science teacher.  Gonzales said 39 judges spent the day talking to the students and examining their projects.

Genevieve Babyak set out to find the germiest place in the school. She tested the cleanliness of various parts of the school. This included drinking fountains, classroom tables, door knobs, computer keyboards, toilet seats, computer keyboards and lockers. It turns out the handles and combinations on lockers were the germiest. “It was so surprising,” she said on her findings. Her project garnered first place in the microbiology category. Bella Malherbe won second place in the same category for her research on how bacteria becomes resistance to antibiotics.

Max Horvath explored his interest in perpetual motion. He used one of the toy water-drinking birds that dips its beak in a glass of water. Horvath’s efforts earned the second-place award in the engineering category.

TMS athlete Ellie Yuska used her mother to find out if a parent’s blood pressure rises watching their children compete in sports. Bob McDonnell / The Surveyor

TMS athlete Ellie Yuska used her mother to find out if a parent’s blood pressure rises watching their children compete in sports.
Bob McDonnell / The Surveyor

Ellie Yuska’s study involved how parents of athletes blood pressure is affected by watching their children play sports. She plays basketball, volleyball and softball. Her brother plays football, so Yuska tested her mom’s blood pressure before and then halfway through four football and four volleyball games. Not surprising, seeing her children compete did raise the mom’s blood-pressure numbers, but not to a dangerous level. She knows she gets worked up, but she was kind of surprised,” Yuska said.

Other projects from this year’s TMS eighth graders included dealing with the questions on subjects like, does chewing gum help kids take tests better, the relationship between playing video games and attention spans, what surface works best for lifting fingerprints, the best way to clean pinto beans, and how long it takes fast food to spoil.

Here are the winners from all categories.

Animal Sciences
First: Ella North
Second: Allyson Sandy

Behavioral and Social Sciences
First: Sarah Kouns
Second: Ellie Dodd
Third: Jamie Dellwardt, Lila Domenico

Chemistry
First: Macy Fitzgerald
Second: Kobi Hobert
Third: MariAnna Smith
Honorable Mention: Joshua Samuels

Earth and Planetary Science
First: Kellan Oliver

Energy and Transportation
First: Luke Namesnik
Second: Wesley Woo
Third: Joe Kilde

Perpetual motion intrigued TMS student Max Horvath. His experiment earned a second-place award. Bob McDonnell / The Surveyor

Perpetual motion intrigued TMS student Max Horvath. His experiment earned a second-place award.
Bob McDonnell / The Surveyor

Engineering
First: Eliana Paradise
Second: Max Horvath

Environmental Science
First: Dylan Brune

Medicine and Health Sciences
First: Gretchen Marty
Second: Ellie Yuska
Third: Abbie Dodd

Microbiology
First: Genevieve Babyak
Second: Bella Malherbe

Physics
First: Corey Schanker
Second: Katelyn Croft
Third: Joe Killian
HM: Natalie Antczak, Peter Bullett

Plant Sciences
First: Kylee Densborn
Second: Jonah Doyle
Third: Elijah Greenslit

Best of Show went to Jordan Reichhardt in the category of Environmental Science for her project titled “Ocean Acidification.”

Gonzales says all category winners and the best of show recipient will receive invitations to the district’s science fair.

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