This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

ST. ALPHONSUS STUDENTS EARN 15 FIRST PLACE AWARDS AT 2014 PA JUNIOR ACADEMY OF SCIENCE STATE COMPETITION

May 27, 2014--St. Alphonsus science students shined at the 80th Annual Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) State Competition held May 19, 2014 at The Penn State University in State College, PA.   Nineteen seventh and eighth grade students participated and won 15 first place awards and four second place awards.  Mrs. Nancy Snyder was the students’ sponsor.

Students earning first-place awards included eighth graders Jacob Ball-How High Can Your Heart Take You?; Natalie Christel-Chemilumoinescence and Temperature:Glow Stick Duration; Michael Gemperle-Lima Bean Growth Using Three Different Fertilizers; Rylee Kopchak-Effects of Exercise on Memory; Lucas Madonna-Magnets and Water; JonPaul Plesniak-Better than Gasoline? Comparing Alcohol Based Fuels; Gabe Schonne-Free Range or Conventional Eggs; Chris Virostek-LaCross Shots and Accuracy, and seventh-graders Grant Burnet-Saxophone Reeds and Bacteria; Trevor Huddleston-Impact of Age and Gender on Taste Buds; Emily Kavanagh-What is Faster?  Fins or Paddles; Krista Kim-Light Bulb Efficiency; Cassandra Moats-Music and Memory; and Jessie Potter-The Effects of Weather and Durability of Paint Brands

Students earning second-place awards included eighth-graders Kristine Mihm-Radish Plants and Caffeine and Hannah Sturgis-Using Visualization While Shooting Basketball Free Throws, as well as seventh-graders Jack Martha-Rap vs. Classical! An Environment to Grow? and Alexis Sestric-Heat Absorption and Sun Exposure.

Find out what's happening in Pine-Richlandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The 80th Annual PJAS State Competition featured presentations from approximately 3,000 of the best and brightest middle and high school science students from across the state. To qualify for the state competition, students must earn a first-place at one of 13 regional competitions that occurred earlier in the year.  PJAS students select a project topic from various scientific fields.  They research background information, formulate a hypothesis, develop an experiment, collect and analyze data, and form a conclusion.  At the competition, students present their scientific findings to a panel of judges during oral presentations and a question and answer period.  Projects are evaluated on criteria including scientific thought, experimental methods, analytical approach, and presentation.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Pine-Richland