Plano Star-courier > News
Plano students snag all three grand prizes at regional elementary science fair
By Cristen Perkowski, Staff Writer
Plano students snagged all three grand prizes Thursday at the elementary regional science fair. Of the 100 Plano students entered, more than half placed in science competition comprised of seven area school districts.
Grand prizes were awarded to Hedgcoxe second grader Lena Khanolkar for her project “Which Ocean Region Will Be Affected Most During an Oil Spill?;” Mitchell fifth grader Connor Madden for “Snooze or Lose;” and Murphy Middle School sixth grader Ben Carroll for “Solving the Number e.”
“This is the first year in the past couple years we have won all of the possible grand prize awards,” said Ginger Britain, PISD coordinator of elementary science. “So, we’re very pleased with the hard work that our students and teachers have done.”
The regional fair took place at the Plano Centre Wednesday and Thursday and was hosted by seven area school districts: Allen, Carrolton/Farmers Branch, Garland, Mesquite, McKinney, Plano and Richardson ISDs.
“I did have comments from some of our judges, at the district fair last Saturday, that they felt like the quality of the work and the unusual projects and ideas were better this year than they have been in past years,” Britain said.
District science fairs started in the Plano Independent School District in 1963. This year, 6,186 students from grades kindergarten through sixth grade participated in elementary fairs at the schools. Of those, 263 progressed to the district fair and 100 projects then travelled to the regional fair this week and 59 placed.
At the elementary level, science fair judging stops at regionals. Secondary science fairs will begin in March after spring break.
“Teachers, through their regular science curriculum, give a lot of support students would need to do a science fair project,” Britain said. “Many of their experiences and investigations are important to an individual student project.”
Student projects are divided into three categories for judging: earth, life and physical sciences. This year, Britain said most of the students’ projects fall into the physical science category.
“One thing we always see is most of the projects being in physical science and the category with the least (entries) is earth science,” Britain said. “So, we’re looking forward to peaking the interest of more students to do projects in earth science.”
Jan Whelan, an elementary curriculum specialist, was a judge at the district level last Saturday.
“I was amazed by the overall quality of the students’ projects, and they were so articulate from kindergarten up. It was quite amazing what our students can do,” Whelan said.
She said she judged one kindergartner’s project that involved glow sticks. When she asked him what “chemical luminescence” is, “he said exactly what it was.”
“It’s just so exciting to see little young scientist at work,” Whelan said. “This year, every student really appeared to know their project very well.”
This was Whelan’s second year to judge elementary science fair, and said she was impressed with the “insightful” questions the students asked in their project.
“You can tell the science curriculum is paying off in the school,” Whelan said. “In years past, I haven’t seen students with this depth of knowledge.”
Contact staff writer Cristen Perkowski at cperkowski@acnpapers.com or 972-398-4263.
(Format in agate)
North Dallas Regional Elementary Science Fair Awards
First grade
Earth science
1st n Jason Smith from Andrews, “The Big Dig”
2nd n Jacob Deutsch from Saigling, “Loading Lodestones”
3rd n Zachary Steele from Hung, “Sunlight on Colors”
Life science
1st n Carter Fredrick from Miller, “Taste Buds”
2nd n Samantha Brosle from Barksdale, “What's that Smell?”
HM n Ana Sander from McCall, “Where Oh Where Could That Little Germ Be?”
HM n Madeleine Billman from Rasor, “How Does Your Garden Grow?”
HM n Rohan Selvaraj from Gulledge, “Why Some Bodies Go Nuts if They Eat Nuts”
Physical science
1st n Katherine Sperry from Skaggs, “Squooshy Wooshy”
2nd n Ethan Shen from Davis, “Super Structures”
3rd n Alex Skruch from Haggar, “Parachute Drop”
HM n Jake Barden from Wells, “Drippin' Droppin' Colors”
HM n William Chang from Wyatt, “London Bridge is Fine and Strong”
Second grade
Earth science
Grand prize, 1st place n Lena Khanolkar from Hedgcoxe, “Which Ocean Region Will Be Affected Most During an Oil Spill?”
Life science
1st n Dominique Mellone from Christie, “‘Egg’sperimenting with Toothpaste”
HM n Alexis Moorer from Weatherford, “Turning Over a New Leaf”
HM n Aditya Govind from Boggess, “How does the Food in My Intestine Get Into My Bloodstream?”
Physical science
1st n Jake Ford from Carlisle, “Which Nest Is the Warmest?”
3rd n Darshan Shaastri from Haun, “High-Five Supports”
HM n Sidharth Bhat from Beverly, “What's Wrong with My Black Shirt?”
Third Grade
Earth science
1st n Paul Rutherford from Mitchell, “Can I Safely Drink this Water?”
2nd n Collin Watson from Mendenhall, “All Covered Up!”
Life science
1st n Kyle Newman & Jacqueline Pecha from Hightower, “Estimation Sensation”
2nd n Kevin Rinkliff from Centennial, “Can You See Me?”
Physical science
1st n Erienne Terpak from Thomas, “The Rising of the Bread”
2nd n Austin Henning from Dooley, “Cost of Energy”
3rd n Sanora Rinaldi from Aldridge, “ Got Gas”
3rd n Josey Hanish from Stinson, “Wet Electricity”
Fourth Grade
Earth science
2nd n Omar Alvarenga from Weatherford, “A Global Warning”
Life science
1st n Sierra Smith from Dooley, “ Got Hay?”
2nd n Jeremy Frank from Centennial, “Do Vitamins Help Plants?”
3rd - Madison Shearer and Lindsey Ludwig from Hedgcoxe, “Galloping Gourmet”
HM n Carolyn McCrossan from Wells, “Fishy Maze Dayz”
Physical science
1st n Genevea Werner from Hughston, “Does It Dawn on You?”
1st n Josh Sperry from Skaggs, “A Tough Texan”
2nd n Lauryn Bruffett from Boggess, “Shake It Up!”
3rd n Alex Kanakis from Carlisle, “Will It Flush?”
HM n Alexandra Wen from Haggar, “Which Jar Holds the Future?”
HM n Samantha Foley from McCall, “Black Rainbow”
Fifth Grade
Earth science
1st n Michael Balistreri from Andrews, “ What's In Your Water?”
Life science
Grand Prize, 1st n Connor Madden from Mitchell, “Snooze or Lose”
1st n Emily Tucker and Safia Hossain from Hightower, “Drought Busters”
2nd n Elizabeth Nevins from Daffron, “Planting a Solution to Pollution”
2nd n Dylan Hunn from Huffman, “Nature Does Math”
3rd - Avery Atterstrom and Erica Shannon from Gulledge, “Pop Quiz! Who Knew?”
3rd n Sarah Serfling from Christie, “Are Horses Color Blind?”
Physical science
1st n Bryan Atkins and Hunter Atkins from Aldridge, “Long & Skinny Vs Short & Many”
3rd n Bobby Wang from Brinker, “Flying Free”
3rd - Elizabeth Goulston and Tonia Wu from Haun, “Insulation Investigation”
HM n Ben Myers from Hunt, “ Can't Beat the Heat!”
HM n Varun Sridhar from Bethany, “Ocean Merry Go-Round”
Sixth Grade
Earth science
2nd n Austin Ouan from Frankford, “H.O.T. n ‘Heating Our Terrain’”
Life science
2nd n Shravan Shaastri from Robinson, “Glutton for Gluten”
2nd n Evelyn Ho from Wilson, “Got Yogurt? Survival Role of Nactobacillis”
HM - Amanda Chandler & Addie Newton from Wilson, “Baking Butterflies”
Physical science
Grand Prize, 1st n Ben Carroll from Murphy, “Solving the Number e”
2nd n Megna Murali from Rick, “Chillin Out”
2nd n William Chang from Schimelpfenig, “Does Trans Fat Affect Cookie Taste?”
HM n Cole Constien from Wilson, “Accuracy Measures Up”
Grand prizes were awarded to Hedgcoxe second grader Lena Khanolkar for her project “Which Ocean Region Will Be Affected Most During an Oil Spill?;” Mitchell fifth grader Connor Madden for “Snooze or Lose;” and Murphy Middle School sixth grader Ben Carroll for “Solving the Number e.”
“This is the first year in the past couple years we have won all of the possible grand prize awards,” said Ginger Britain, PISD coordinator of elementary science. “So, we’re very pleased with the hard work that our students and teachers have done.”
The regional fair took place at the Plano Centre Wednesday and Thursday and was hosted by seven area school districts: Allen, Carrolton/Farmers Branch, Garland, Mesquite, McKinney, Plano and Richardson ISDs.
“I did have comments from some of our judges, at the district fair last Saturday, that they felt like the quality of the work and the unusual projects and ideas were better this year than they have been in past years,” Britain said.
District science fairs started in the Plano Independent School District in 1963. This year, 6,186 students from grades kindergarten through sixth grade participated in elementary fairs at the schools. Of those, 263 progressed to the district fair and 100 projects then travelled to the regional fair this week and 59 placed.
At the elementary level, science fair judging stops at regionals. Secondary science fairs will begin in March after spring break.
“Teachers, through their regular science curriculum, give a lot of support students would need to do a science fair project,” Britain said. “Many of their experiences and investigations are important to an individual student project.”
Student projects are divided into three categories for judging: earth, life and physical sciences. This year, Britain said most of the students’ projects fall into the physical science category.
“One thing we always see is most of the projects being in physical science and the category with the least (entries) is earth science,” Britain said. “So, we’re looking forward to peaking the interest of more students to do projects in earth science.”
Jan Whelan, an elementary curriculum specialist, was a judge at the district level last Saturday.
“I was amazed by the overall quality of the students’ projects, and they were so articulate from kindergarten up. It was quite amazing what our students can do,” Whelan said.
She said she judged one kindergartner’s project that involved glow sticks. When she asked him what “chemical luminescence” is, “he said exactly what it was.”
“It’s just so exciting to see little young scientist at work,” Whelan said. “This year, every student really appeared to know their project very well.”
This was Whelan’s second year to judge elementary science fair, and said she was impressed with the “insightful” questions the students asked in their project.
“You can tell the science curriculum is paying off in the school,” Whelan said. “In years past, I haven’t seen students with this depth of knowledge.”
Contact staff writer Cristen Perkowski at cperkowski@acnpapers.com or 972-398-4263.
(Format in agate)
North Dallas Regional Elementary Science Fair Awards
First grade
Earth science
1st n Jason Smith from Andrews, “The Big Dig”
2nd n Jacob Deutsch from Saigling, “Loading Lodestones”
3rd n Zachary Steele from Hung, “Sunlight on Colors”
Life science
1st n Carter Fredrick from Miller, “Taste Buds”
2nd n Samantha Brosle from Barksdale, “What's that Smell?”
HM n Ana Sander from McCall, “Where Oh Where Could That Little Germ Be?”
HM n Madeleine Billman from Rasor, “How Does Your Garden Grow?”
HM n Rohan Selvaraj from Gulledge, “Why Some Bodies Go Nuts if They Eat Nuts”
Physical science
1st n Katherine Sperry from Skaggs, “Squooshy Wooshy”
2nd n Ethan Shen from Davis, “Super Structures”
3rd n Alex Skruch from Haggar, “Parachute Drop”
HM n Jake Barden from Wells, “Drippin' Droppin' Colors”
HM n William Chang from Wyatt, “London Bridge is Fine and Strong”
Second grade
Earth science
Grand prize, 1st place n Lena Khanolkar from Hedgcoxe, “Which Ocean Region Will Be Affected Most During an Oil Spill?”
Life science
1st n Dominique Mellone from Christie, “‘Egg’sperimenting with Toothpaste”
HM n Alexis Moorer from Weatherford, “Turning Over a New Leaf”
HM n Aditya Govind from Boggess, “How does the Food in My Intestine Get Into My Bloodstream?”
Physical science
1st n Jake Ford from Carlisle, “Which Nest Is the Warmest?”
3rd n Darshan Shaastri from Haun, “High-Five Supports”
HM n Sidharth Bhat from Beverly, “What's Wrong with My Black Shirt?”
Third Grade
Earth science
1st n Paul Rutherford from Mitchell, “Can I Safely Drink this Water?”
2nd n Collin Watson from Mendenhall, “All Covered Up!”
Life science
1st n Kyle Newman & Jacqueline Pecha from Hightower, “Estimation Sensation”
2nd n Kevin Rinkliff from Centennial, “Can You See Me?”
Physical science
1st n Erienne Terpak from Thomas, “The Rising of the Bread”
2nd n Austin Henning from Dooley, “Cost of Energy”
3rd n Sanora Rinaldi from Aldridge, “ Got Gas”
3rd n Josey Hanish from Stinson, “Wet Electricity”
Fourth Grade
Earth science
2nd n Omar Alvarenga from Weatherford, “A Global Warning”
Life science
1st n Sierra Smith from Dooley, “ Got Hay?”
2nd n Jeremy Frank from Centennial, “Do Vitamins Help Plants?”
3rd - Madison Shearer and Lindsey Ludwig from Hedgcoxe, “Galloping Gourmet”
HM n Carolyn McCrossan from Wells, “Fishy Maze Dayz”
Physical science
1st n Genevea Werner from Hughston, “Does It Dawn on You?”
1st n Josh Sperry from Skaggs, “A Tough Texan”
2nd n Lauryn Bruffett from Boggess, “Shake It Up!”
3rd n Alex Kanakis from Carlisle, “Will It Flush?”
HM n Alexandra Wen from Haggar, “Which Jar Holds the Future?”
HM n Samantha Foley from McCall, “Black Rainbow”
Fifth Grade
Earth science
1st n Michael Balistreri from Andrews, “ What's In Your Water?”
Life science
Grand Prize, 1st n Connor Madden from Mitchell, “Snooze or Lose”
1st n Emily Tucker and Safia Hossain from Hightower, “Drought Busters”
2nd n Elizabeth Nevins from Daffron, “Planting a Solution to Pollution”
2nd n Dylan Hunn from Huffman, “Nature Does Math”
3rd - Avery Atterstrom and Erica Shannon from Gulledge, “Pop Quiz! Who Knew?”
3rd n Sarah Serfling from Christie, “Are Horses Color Blind?”
Physical science
1st n Bryan Atkins and Hunter Atkins from Aldridge, “Long & Skinny Vs Short & Many”
3rd n Bobby Wang from Brinker, “Flying Free”
3rd - Elizabeth Goulston and Tonia Wu from Haun, “Insulation Investigation”
HM n Ben Myers from Hunt, “ Can't Beat the Heat!”
HM n Varun Sridhar from Bethany, “Ocean Merry Go-Round”
Sixth Grade
Earth science
2nd n Austin Ouan from Frankford, “H.O.T. n ‘Heating Our Terrain’”
Life science
2nd n Shravan Shaastri from Robinson, “Glutton for Gluten”
2nd n Evelyn Ho from Wilson, “Got Yogurt? Survival Role of Nactobacillis”
HM - Amanda Chandler & Addie Newton from Wilson, “Baking Butterflies”
Physical science
Grand Prize, 1st n Ben Carroll from Murphy, “Solving the Number e”
2nd n Megna Murali from Rick, “Chillin Out”
2nd n William Chang from Schimelpfenig, “Does Trans Fat Affect Cookie Taste?”
HM n Cole Constien from Wilson, “Accuracy Measures Up”
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