Quick question: Who would have better memorization skills, fresh-faced high school freshmen or those soon-to-be-graduating seniors?

Ironton High School junior Kylie Summers wanted to know the answer to that question and made it the hypothesis to her science fair project.

Summers said she has had a long-standing interest in how the brain retains information.

“I did this in the seventh grade only it was on gender and memory,” Summers explained.

She and five other science fair participants who received a superior rating on their projects got to show off their knowledge to the Ironton Board of Education Tuesday night.

Summers and three others will advance to the district science fair at Shawnee State University March 21.

For the record, Summer learned that seniors have slightly better memory than freshmen, but only slightly, a conclusion that drew humor from board member John Wolfe.

“Don’t ask me about short-term memory— I am a senior,” he joked.

The three other winning projects were senior Michael Kennedy’s study of bridge designs, Laura Stewart’s study of whether permanent markers are truly permanent, and Marissa Delong’s study of whether hand sanitizers are more effective at controlling bacteria than antibacterial soap Dial soap is better, she found, but contains a pesticide that may make people think twice before using it on their body.