BURLINGTON — The Lawrence County Science Fair will take place on Feb. 6 at Ironton Middle School and elementary and middle schools are hosting their individual fairs to determine who qualifies for the county event.

The fair, which is open to fifth through eighth graders, is organized by the Lawrence County Educational Services Center and is open to all districts in the county.

On Tuesday, Burlington Elementary School hosted their science fair for fifth graders.

Jeff Heinl, the school’s science teacher, said the school used to hold the fair later in the year, but moved it to earlier, in order to allow students to go to county.

“If they get a 90 percent or higher on the project, they can go to the county level,” he said.

Projects covered things such as how plastic harms the environment, which brand of popcorn pops best, how candy is made and which kind of paper towel is the strongest.

“We had 68 projects,” Heinl said. “It was mandatory and each student had to do one.”

Ryder Pratt’s project studied which brand of fishing line was the strongest.

Tying a weight to each, he test three kinds at 10 pounds and 14 pounds. He found that Sufix was strongest, stretching at the maximum weight, while the others broke immediately.

Gracie Perkes’ project was “Sugar vs. Teeth.”

“I’m looking at which soda pop affects teeth,” she said. “Mountain Dew has 19 tablespoons of sugar and Pepsi has 10 tablespoons.”

She tested two types, Pepsi and Mountain Dew with borax over a week to see which causes decay fastest.

She said she was surprised at how quickly the sugar did the job.

Madsion Viglianco was studying how much energy it takes to power a light bulb.

“I used two 6-volt batteries with two wires connected with alligator clips,” she said.

She hypothesized that it would be enough to power the bulb.

“And it was,” she said.

Josh Egbert was studying hurricanes.

“I hoped to learn how much damage they can cause and they form and spawn,” he said.

In addition to his research, he created simulated effects of the weather patterns involved by using water, food coloring and soap, one in a bowl and two with bottles that he shook up.

“I really didn’t expect it to start swirling so fast,” he said of the effect in the bottles after he shook them.

Heinl said students had to present their projects three times each to judges from the community, he said.

A parents night took place in the evening, where awards were handed out.

Students who qualified for county were Rowyn Allen, Kasedy Black, McKenzie Williams, Wyatt Frederick, Zoe Osborne, Adyson Copley, Bailey Sloan and Malia Balandra.

Osborne was the grand prize winner for the fair for her project, “Germ Wars.”

 

Burlington Elementary School Science fair winners by category:

 

Astronomy

1^st– Aidan King — Precious Planets

2^nd– Cashton Westmoreland — Our Galaxy

3^rd– Izabella Devaney — Does Water Float in Space?

 

Botany

1^st– Ezra Young — Under What Conditions Do Potatoes Sprout Faster?

 

Chemistry

1^st– Rowyn Allen — Eggs in Vinegar

2^nd– Shaelynn Moore — How an Eggs Floats in Salt

3^rd– Makayla Clark — Penny Cleaning

Honorable mention — Hailey Ellis- What Happens When You Soak an Egg in Vinegar for Three Days; Olivia Watts- Slime

 

Consumer Science

1^st– Kasedy Black — Which Paper Towel is the Strongest?

2^nd– McKenzie Williams — Which Cleaner Removes Ink Stains?

3^rd– Jaycee Flook — Fighting Mouth Bacteria

HM- Rhianna Duna — Which Brand of Popcorn Makes More Kernels?

Earth/Environmental

1^st– Jasleen Ortiz — Plastic Pollution and Waste Management

2^nd– Laynie Flook — The Earth Likes to Dance

3^rd– McKayla Porter — How Plastic Is Destroying the Environment

HM- Trinity Coleman — How Does Pollution Hurt Animals?

 

General Science

1^st– Elijah Payne — The Computer: How it Works

2^nd– Madison Wiseman — How the Cookie Crumbles

3^rd– Sarah Langham — How to Make Candy

 

Energy

1^st– Wyatt Frederick — Does Temperature of a Battery Effect How It Works?

2^nd– Madison Viglianco — How to Light A Bulb

3^rd– Bethany Maynard — Potato Clock

 

Health Science

1^st– Zoe Osborne — Germ Wars

2^nd– Adyson Copley — Where Should You Keep Your Toothbrush?       ; Bailey Sloan- Which is Cleaner, A Dog’s Mouth or Human?

3^rd– Gracie Perkey — Re-Think Before you Drink

HM- Karmen Stevens — How Do Sugary Drinks Affect Your Teeth?

 

Human Biology

1^st– Malia Balandra — Smell’s Kitchen: Probing the Effects of Smell on Taste

2^nd– Shayla Cardwell — How Muscles Work

 

Weather

1^st– Joshua Egbert — Hit Me Like a Hurricane

2^nd– Brody Maynard — Tornado in a Bottle

 

Physics

1^st– Ethan Laslo — Baseball Bat Comparison

2^nd– Ethan Hunt — Does Warm Water Freeze Faster Than Cold Water?

3^rd– Kennedy Vance — Bombs Away! A Simple Catapult

HM- Hunter Chinn — Did Tom Brady Cheat?

 

Zoology

1^st– Chloe Scarberry — Great White Sharks

2^nd– Elysa Jackson — Sand Cats

3^rd– Micah Workman — The Life Cycle of a Heartworm

HM- Kylah Blue — All About Red Pandas