February 04, 2010

Spruce Creek students excel at regional science fair

PORT ORANGE -- The best of local student scientific investigation was presented Saturday during the annual Tomoka Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

This year's event was at Atlantic High School and when the judging was done, Spruce Creek High School students Steven Toub and Deepak Sathyanarayan were the big winners, with each taking home a "Best of Fair" award.

Toub, a sophomore, won the Physical Science Award with his project titled, "A Cleaner Trip On Acid: Can Carbon Dioxide Be Removed From Internal Combustion Engine Exhaust at Its Source?" He also took a first-place award in the senior division of the engineering competition

Deepak Sathyanarayan, a junior, won the Biological Science Award in the senior division of Microbiology for his project titled "Rapid Quantification of Salicylic Acid on npr1 Background Arabidopsis Thaliana Ethyl Methanesulfonate Mutants."

Both students will move on to compete at the State Science Fair in Orlando in April.

While Toub and Sathyanarayan took top honors, all of the students who presented projects gained valuable experience in the scientific method of developing hypotheses, making observations, recording and analyzing data, and drawing acceptable conclusions.

Some of the most creative projects presented Saturday included a study into how temperature affects the chirping of crickets and a query into which local TV weather forecaster is the most accurate.

Subject matter of interest to local students ran the gamut. Seeds were exposed to any number of treatments with multiple hypotheses predicting growth patterns. Magnetic and electrical phenomena were investigated; sporting techniques were questioned; human and animal behavior was observed and analyzed. In all, more than $2,000 in prizes was distributed to special winners by local organizations such as Heart of Volusia, the Office of Naval Research, the Flagler and Volusia Veterinary Medical Association, Embry-Riddle's Physical Sciences Department, the Junior League of Daytona Beach and others.

The awards were presented by Deputy Superintendent Dr. Chris Caldwell at day's end.

Along with Toub and Sathyanatayan, a number of students and their projects from both junior and senior divisions will move on to compete at the state level in April.

Heart of Volusia award winners Heart of Volusia annually awards several U.S. Savings Bonds (1st, $100 -- 2nd, $75 -- 3rd/4th, $50) to students who focus on heart-related projects: JUNIOR DIVISION Hannah Fox, sixth grade, Hinson Middle School, for "How Does Caffeine Affect the Heart Rate of Ghost Shrimp?"

First:

Second: Kharina Guruvado, seventh grade, Silver Sands Middle School, for "The Caffeine Effect on the Human Heart Rate."

Third: Shandon Mark, sixth grade, Heritage Middle School, for "Does Your Heart Get Old? Does the Age of Your Heart Affect the Difference in Your 'At Rest' Heart Rate to Your 'Active' Heart Rate?"

SENIOR DIVISION Priyanka Reddy, freshman, Spruce Creek High School, "Do Gram Positive Bacteria Have a Higher Osmotic Tolerance Than Gram Negative Bacteria?"

First:

Second: Vaneesha Patel, senior, Spruce Creek High School, "Second Hand Smoke-Induced Heart Injury."

Third: Jennifer Hutchinson, freshman, DeLand High School, "The Effect of BMI on Inspiratory Lung Capacity of Females Over the Age of 18."

Fourth: Katherine Bautista, sophomore, DeLand High School, "The Effect on the Blood Flow's Rate Based on the Change of Blood Blockage Shape and the Same Amount of Blockage."