Science Fair brings out area's brightest

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Peru High School students Emily Allen (left) and Emma Altizer discuss their project about The Stroop Effect. They hypothesized that athletes and musicians would be the best candidates to score highest in a test that measured reaction due because their brains are better developed. Subjects had to correctly identify the color of text; not the name of the color denoted by the text. Athleteshad a higher tendency to go faster at the beginning, while musicians maintained a steadier pace. P-R Photo/Gabe Dickens

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April 25, 2010

By ANDREA VanVALKENBURG Staff Writer The Press Republican Sun Apr 25, 2010, 03:28 AM EDT

PLATTSBURGH — Though they're only in Middle School, Erick DuShane and Maria Malone are already interested in going green.

And that's why they decided to research natural energy and see if water turbines could help make a difference for future generations.

"We came up with some energy-saving ideas and wanted to see if water could produce energy," DuShane said as he demonstrated his project Saturday at the Champlain Valley Regional Science Fair.

"And you can see that it does."

As Malone, a Crown Point eighth grader, poured water into their hand-crafted turbine, she noted that "it uses only natural energy and doesn't have a negative impact on the environment."

Samuel LaPointe and Calvin Arno focused their project on insulation and what type works the best.

"We got the idea in science class and wanted to see what was better," Arno said.

So the Crown Point eighth graders researched and tested several materials, finding that plastic was the best choice.

"Plastic bags actually did better than fiberglass and other things," LaPointe said as he looked over his project.

The third-annual event brought out about two dozen Middle School and High School students from several area schools for a competitive challenge at Plattsburgh State.

It featured technology, demonstration and research categories with projects ranging from High Flyin' Hover Boards to Radish Growth and a Deep Red Game Playing Robot.

PSU Professor Dr. Robert Fuller, who co-chaired the event, said participation in the fair spiked 50 percent from just last year.

"It's really starting to take off and we hope more schools will get involved in the years to come," he said, crediting the participants and their teachers for their dedication to the fair.

"This really teaches the students what the process of science is, a process of discovery, that gets them away from the books and their hands dirty so to speak.

"It's really to peak the students' interest and hopefully get them interested in science and possibly a career in the field."

There were four first-place group winners in the event.

Megan Rivers and Darren Sponable from Beekmantown High School won first place in the high school research project categories for their study on allelopathy.

In the technology projects category, for grades seven through 12, Bowen Christopher, Mitchel Goff and Austin Remchuk, all from the Clinton County Robotics Club, placed first for their presentation on the deep red game playing robot.

First place for middle school research projects went to Calvin Arno and Samuel LaPoint of Crown Point Central School, for their project on heat and insulation.

Crown Point Central school students Erick DuShane and Maria Malone placed first place in the middle school demonstration category for their water turbine project.

Winners received college scholarships for their work.

The event, organized by Plattsburgh State and Clinton Community College, was sponsored by the Development Corporation and will be held again next year on April 23.