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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
April 8, 2004

NU hosts 41st annual Vt State Science & Math Fair; 14 schools participate

By Shandra Plourde
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Ryan Rainville, a 16-year-old junior from Rutland High School took overall top score at the fair and will be going to ISEF in May with NU Professor Carlos Pinkham. (Plourde photo)

On Saturday, April 9, Norwich hosted the 41st Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair in the laboratory facilities of the science complex.

As early as 7:45 a.m., close to 200 junior and senior high school students, ranging from grades 7 through 12, began arriving from as far away as Wilmington, Vt. Fourteen schools from all over Vermont were represented.

"This event is to encourage students to [pursue] their interests in science and mathematics," said Mary Hoppe, Norwich Chemistry Professor and co-director of the Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair. "It is a celebration of the work that they have done in the area of science. It is used to try to encourage [and] foster the development of science in these junior and senior high school students."

According to Hoppe, the average student participant designs, carries out, and presents their entry at a school level fair before moving on to the statewide event. They are then selected by their school to represent the school at the state fair.

Once the students arrived, they were placed in rooms by category: biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics, physics, and social science. There was also a category for group projects. Each student was then evaluated by three judges who had experience in their category. These judges rated the student projects on a list of criteria, following the scientific method, on a one to five scale. The winners were then based on highest total score given by all three judges.

"It is used to try to encourage people to follow the scientific method to test things and then to come to conclusions based on data rather than jumping to conclusions," Hoppe said. "This was an opportunity for them to display what they have done and answer questions about their projects and compete for prizes and awards."

What made this year different from the past is the new affiliation between the Vermont State Science and Math Fair with the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

According to their website, "ISEF is the world's largest precollege celebration of science" and attracts 1,200 of the top science fair projects from high school level students residing in 40 countries and offers over a million dollars in prizes. These include scholarships, tuition grants, internships, and scientific field trips around the globe. The top winner at this event is awarded a $50,000 college scholarship and a computer. Other prizes include monetary sums and trips all over the world. Selected participants could even win trips to other compete in foreign science fairs. A coveted prize is a trip to Stockholm to attend the Noble Prize Ceremony. Many students that go to ISEF seek patents from their projects.

Carlos Pinkham, a visiting professor of biology at Norwich for the past 21 years, is the chairman of the Vermont State Science and Mathematics Fair and a member of the board of the International Science and Engineering Fair committee. Pinkham made it his personal mission to affiliate the Vermont fair and ISEF to assure that Vermont would be represented in this year's 55th Annual international exhibit.

"The real thing that brought them here is the teachers that [support] them and made them do the study. Hopefully it was the concept of learning how to do a good science fair project.

"It teaches the students how to become good scientists, because they have to learn the scientific technique, the ground-stay of western technological supremacy," Pinkham said. "Getting them excited about that is what the science fair is about, by having them do it themselves and learning the process. They learn that science is not smooth. It gives them an idea that this is fun."

Ryan Rainville, a 16-year-old junior at Rutland High School, received the top overall score and was chosen to move on to ISEF, held this year in Portland, Oregon, from May 9-15, with his experiment "Domes: the pros and cons of Triangulation."

"Last year I [took] a class with a physics teacher who was an inspiration. He taught about structures, and we designed bridges and domes on a small scale," explained Rainville. "I came to him this year, and I wanted to do something with architecture. I was looking at testing [structures] and I had really been interested in geodesic domes."

Rainville's project was to test a system known as frequency triangulation. He constructed four different domes, each more complex, and compared their ability to distribute weight, which was the strongest, and which was the most efficient overall. He also researched the basic history of dome design.

With the affiliation came a total of nine prizes sponsored by ISEF. There was also close to one hundred prizes, other prizes ranging from medals to certificates to monetary awards starting at $50, the highest being $200.

The Vermont Principal's Association (VPA) awarded Dan Aarom, from Woodstock Union High School, their top prize for his mathematics-based project, "Baseball Batting Lineups."

"He did a really excellent statistical look at lineups and how they effect run productivity, so he turned it into something that interested him." Hoppe explained. She had spoken with Aarom and discovered that he had no interest in mathematics, only in baseball. He was awarded $200 and a certificate for his project.

Smaller prizes were awarded by several state organizations and local branches of national organizations, as well as private companies. They provided their own judges and criteria to award the top projects in their respected fields. Awards given by such companies focused on topics such as water, environment, physics, and engineering. The majority of these awards were monetary.

One sponsor was the Norwich University Tau Beta Pi chapter. This student engineering honor society donated money and awarded two participants: Allison Neal of Northfield High School for her project titled, "Investigating the Effects of Airflow Restriction of a Hovercraft to Reduce Friction", and Megan Ebar from Winson Jr./ Sr. High School for "Field Hockey Stick Material."

Fifteen gold medals and 30 silver medals were awarded to Superior or Excellent projects by the VPA. They also awarded a certificate of participation to every participant.

This event would not have been possible without the involvement of volunteers which include the judges, faculty, and the students who run and manage the fair.

"The core of the faculty here love doing this," Pinkham said. Both co-directors, Hoppe and Martha McBride, a visiting professor of chemistry at Norwich, expressed the same sentiments.

Pinkham pointed out that student volunteers were also enthusiastic and readily available.

"We don't have to work hard to get student volunteers," Pinkham said. "We couldn't do it without them."

For some students, it has become second nature to help with this event. Adam Rudolph, a 22 year old chemistry senior from Simsbury, Conn., worked as a student advisor for the statewide fair.

"I helped students find their projects. I was assigned to the chemistry room. I was there an hour, before, helping set up signs and prepping for the day. It's all on a volunteer basis, but chemistry and biochemistry majors are strongly encouraged to help out," Rudolph explained. "I have been doing this since freshmen year. I enjoy helping out with the science fair; [it] promotes science among young people in order for young kids to get enthusiasm back into the sciences."

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.