2014 Saskatoon Regional Science Fair University of Saskatchewan April 9, 2014 2 Loud Pt. 2 John Davis Konkin, Aiden Pickett, Grade 7, Lakeridge School Our project this year is called 2 Loud Pt. 2. Last year in 2 Loud Pt. 1 we experimented on decibel readings in public places and learned how the ear functions and how it could be damaged. This year we not only did an experiment but an innovation and a survey in an effort to find out how loud people listen to their music by conducting a survey in a public place. We also interviewed an ear, nose and throat specialist and asked him about hearing damage (the causes, cures and how to prevent it). For our innovation we made homemade earplugs because we wanted to see if there was a cheaper “do it yourself” way to protect your hearing. Lastly, for our experiment we made a model eardrum in hopes of seeing how sound waves travel through the ear. Through all of these studies, we have learned a lot about hearing loss and our ears. We hope to share our new found information with everyone who views our project, and we are looking forward to Regional Science Fair 2014. Acidic Energy Will Pahl, Terran Tumach, Grade 6, Ecole River Heights School Our project was on Acidic Energy. Acidic energy is the energy that makes up a fruit. We wanted to find out which citrus fruit (lemon, orange, or grapefruit) could charge an iPod the most within a period of time (15 minutes and 30 minutes). We thought a larger citrus fruit may hold more acidic energy, meaning it may charge more. We conducted four experiments to test our hypothesis.We used two tie wires and two 16 penny nails (the conductors of acidic energy) to plug an apple and a citrus fruit into a banana (the charge holder) and charged it for 15 minutes (30 minutes). After 15 minutes (30 minutes), we plugged the iPod into the banana between the two tie wires and charged it for 15 minutes (30 minutes). Our results were that, overall, the grapefruit performed the worst of the citrus fruits because the charge either stayed the same or decreased, while the orange and the lemon both stayed the same, except for the lemon in Test 1, where it lost 10% of its charge. Air Pressure vs Distance Travelled Brooklyn Dirk, Emma Friesen, Grade 6, Lakeridge School Our project is entitled: How the Air Pressure of a Soccer Ball Affects Distance Traveled when Kicked. The purpose of our experiment is to determine if the amount of air pressure in a soccer ball affects how far it will roll when kicked. Our hypothesis is that if we increase the air pressure in a soccer ball the distance it will travel will also increase because the ball will be rounder and harder, and will roll more easily. We chose this topic because we both find science interesting and are determined to find answers. To perform the experiment, we built a holder for a plastic leg to pivot around so when we drop it the amount of force on the ball would be the same each time. We did ten tests per level and after collecting our data we found the average distance for each amount of air pressure, then put our results into a chart to show them more clearly. Artificielle ou Réelle Lourdes Masa, Angel Cortez, Grade 8, Ecole River Heights Schools Our (Lourdes Masa & Angel Cortez) project is about the sense of smell. Our question is "Est-­‐ce que les personnes peuvent sentir si une odeur est d'une source artificielle ou reelle?" We thought that at least half of the participants, amounting to 5, would be able to know if the scents were from an artificial or real source. There were 10 volunteers in total, some being the same age, while others not. There were 5 scents we used, each being in their own container so as not to affect each other's smell. The volunteers were also blindfolded, and we held the scents close to their noses. In addition to what we already knew, there were still some background research we had to do. In total, only 2 people got all of their guesses right, but most of the participants had most of the right answers, so in conclusion, we think that people CAN tell if a scent is from an artificial or real source. Black Holes -­‐ A Scientific Study Zane Wiebe, Muhammad Patel, Grade 6, Lakeridge School Our project consists of a display board which contains all the information about black holes. We created a diagram of how a black hole is formed. There is also a model demonstrating how a stellar mass black hole works. We will demonstrate what happens when a person (lego minifigure) enters a black hole. The display board shows the different parts of a black hole, a summary of each diagram, the anatomy of a black hole, how a black hole is formed, and the three types of black holes. The materials needed to make the "how a black hole is formed" model includes a balloon, a needle, and tinfoil. The materials used for the black hole model of a stellar mass black hole are, 3 tin trays, a black funnel, a hot glue gun, "bendaroos" ( strings with wax ), and about 7 plastic marbles. For the "what happens when someone goes into a black hole" display we just took the model of a stellar mass black hole and added a "Lego" astronaut minifigure. Blind Point Lia McKay, Shaughnessy Coe, Grade 6, Ecole River Heights School Our project is on the blind point. We did some tests to discover if gender and age affects the blind point we tested four adults age 29 and up four teenagers 13 to 19 and four kids 7 to 12 we used two of each gender to discover our conclusion. After the tests we concluded that our hypothesis was right. We found this project interesting and fun. On a fait notre projet sur la point aveugle. On a faits des tests pour découvert si la sexe et l'âge a un effet sur la point aveugle. On a fait des tests sur quatre adults de 20 et plus, quatre adolescents 13 a 19 et quatre enfants de 7 a 12 on a utiliser deux de chauque sexe pour fair notre conclusion. Apres fair les tests on a découvert que notre hypothese etais correct. On a trouver cet projet interessant et amusant. Boo Bubbles Gabrielle Long, Emma Knoll, Grade 8, Lakeridge School For our project we wanted to see if you wear gloves will the dry ice bubble stay on your hand longer than if you did not have a glove on. The bubbles are filled with the dry ice fog that comes out of the bottle we designed for this project. We had to try to make the bubble many times until we would get a good one that would stay on our hands. If we were lucky we would be able to get a bubble that would bounce in our hands bubble. The bubble would get very big when we were able to hold them but eventually they would pop. We found out that they did last longer with gloves on because the bubbles don't like dirt and oils and sense our hands are filled with dirt and oil the bubbles would pop instantly if we were not wearing gloves. That is our project we hope you like it. Bottled Water Chayenne Ziegler, Marianne Kitchen, Grade 8, Brunskill School No abstract submitted Buoyancy Sharon Jacob, Grade 7, Lakeridge School My science fair project is to understand Buoyancy-­‐ why some objects float in fresh water and some do not! I also thought, with my understanding of buoyancy, if I could make objects that sank, to float on water? Buoyancy is defined as a force applied by the liquid that pushes objects upwards and it depends on the weight of the object. Gravitational force acts on all objects and pulls them towards the centre of the earth. However, the force of buoyancy acts upwards and in the opposite direction to the gravitational force. For my experiment, I tested out objects such as-­‐ a pebble, rock, goggles, hairclip, bouncy ball, baseball, coin, a small metallic box, sponge, hand mirror, pencil. From my observations and research, I found that buoyancy is a force applied by water and depends on the weight of the object and also on the densities of both the object and liquid. Whether the object will float or sink depends on the net force on the object (gravitational vs. buoyancy) as well as on the density of the object. Chalk and Dissolve Experiment Tess Lake, Grade 7, Ecole River Heights School In science there is always a reason or an outcome, no matter what experiment. I always thought that chalk would dissolve in water, in fact I thought it would dissolve in any liquid, but in doing this project I learned that solids, liquids, acids and alkali have different reactions when mixed. I completed a three day experiment where I took photos each day of the chalk reactions to the following liquids: water, sprite, lemon juice, and vinegar and made my notes on the results daily. It was important so to make sure that I was consistent with the timing of my results. In doing a a three day experiment and keeping photos and writing down the results, I learned a lot about how things stay solid and how things breakdown and why. It was very interesting to see the day to day differences in the chalk and its level of breakdown in each unique liquid. I was surprised by the differences in acidic liquids and non-­‐acidic liquids and how they have an impact on solids. In this experiment it was calcium carbonate...chalk! It was a fun experiment, but a very messy one to clean up! Citrus Power Brenen Gregg, Jesse Hamm, Grade 6, Prince Albert and area school Our project was on citrus power because we both love inventing things and love a challenge. Since Jesse’s dad is a mechanic it was easy to connect the lemons into a series. We’ve learned that if you connect lots of lemon batteries, you can power a small LED. We gathered an orange, lime, grapefruit and lemon. Then we cut 8 strips of copper and 8 zinc coated nails. After we did that we stuck the copper strips and the zinc coated nails into the lemons. Then we used alligator clips and stuck the copper in the lemon and we stuck the zinc coated nail into the lemon. Then we hooked the alligator clips on the copper strip and the nail. Then we got a volt meter and tested the volts. After we found out how many volts it was, we recorded this in our notebook. We also tested the orange, lime and grape fruit. We wrote down what they tested as then we recorded the information on the paper. We found out that the lemon produced more power than all the other fruits. So we decided to go with the lemons because it produced more power than all the other fruits. Now that we have our fruit, we took a LED and hooked it up to the lemons. The result of our experiment was that lemons could power a LED. Comment fonction le corps d'un calmar? Nicole Wotherspoon, Grade 6, Ecole Victoria School J'ai choisi ce sujet parce que les calmars sont vraiement interessent. Pour mon projet j'ai cree un model et un triptyque. Pour commencer j'ai rechercher les parties du corps et les utilisations/comment ils fonction. Quand j'avait fini tout ma recherche j'ai construit ma model. J'ai utiliser une boutaille de soda pour la base de mon model. Apres ca j'ai peint la boutaille et une boule de stryromousse. J'ai attacher le boule au boutaille, donc le boule de styromousse est la tete. Puis j'ai colle des yeux sur la tete, des 'tentacules' sur la tete, un bec aussi et finalements des nageoires en haut du boutaille (ou vous mettez le couvercle).Mon triptyque contient beaucoup d'information sur les calmars et comment leur corps fonction. J'ai des paraghraphes qui sont tapee et les photo aussi. Mon projet est en francais et en anglais. Je pense que j'ai choisi un sujet interessent, amusant et fascinant! Determining the Potency of Various Biological Products against F. graminearum. Deeksha Kundapur, Grade 11, Walter Murray Collegiate The aim of the project is to ascertain the effectiveness of aqueous extract of turmeric rhizomes (Curcuma longa), tamarind pods (Tamarindus indica), ginger rhizomes (Zingiber officinale), garlic cloves (Allium sativum) and honey in controlling growth of Fusarium graminearum, the causal agent of Fusarium head blight. Fusarium head blight (FHB), alternatively known as Fusarium ear blight, is categorized as an increasingly devastating fungal disease which primarily affects wheat and barley. It also holds the capability to infect crops ranging from oats and corn to canary seed and rye. The disease is caused by a range of trichothecene-­‐producing Fusarium species among which F. graminearum (teleomorph: Gibberella zeae) is the most economically relevant. FHB plays a role in vast economic and agricultural losses due to its overwhelming contributions to lower qualities and quantities of wheat and barley. FHB led yield and quality losses have been attributed to floret sterility and formation of discoloured, withered and light-­‐
weight kernels. F. graminearum destroys starch granules, cell walls, and endosperm proteins leading to poor milling, baking, and pasta-­‐making properties of wheat. In the case that one or more of the botanical sources chosen yields positive results against FHB, it could tremendously benefit the agricultural and economic divisions of areas affected by FHB. The possibilities of health improvement for livestock and the general population could be increased as well. If positive, the findings of the experiment could be refined, perhaps through a process lasting several years, to the point where FHB would have fewer economic and health-­‐related casualties. Experimental Design: Subject grouping: Plant Pathology. Description subject groupings: Efficacy of aqueous extracts of turmeric rhizomes, tamarind pods, ginger rhizomes, garlic cloves and honey in controlling growth of Fusarium graminearum. Variables Controlled: Temperature, light, humidity, concentration of spores, diameter of fungal disc and media. Variables Manipulated: Different concentrations of plant extracts, different isolates of Fusarium graminearum (3-­‐A-­‐DON, 15 A-­‐DON and NIV chemotypes). Measurements: Fungal growth. Phases of experiments if they are to be done in stages. Plant extracts will be made and effect of it on growth of various F. graminearum isolates will be studied. Direct and Indirect Sunlight Cole Bear, Grade 6, Prince Albert and area school I was trying to find out which of the following would cook a marshmallow the most in direct and indirect sunlight: a locker mirror, a piece of tinfoil, a salt shaker, a miniature plastic Smithsonian volcano mold, tape, and a 10cm magnifying glass (diameter). I stood the magnifying glass on the volcano mold and taped into place and I held up the locker mirror with a salt shaker. The piece of tinfoil was just folded into place. I set the three rigs down on a flat surface in sunlight, not totally in line with it so its shadow is lopsided, from a window. I then hit start on a timer and placed the marshmallows under each rigs reflected light. After a certain time, I’d check on it and record the visual changes. When 2 hours past (in tests 1 and 2 but in test 3 only one hour was presented) I checked the appearance and feeling of the marshmallow to see what cooked it the most. After 3 tests in indirect sunlight, the mirror has cooked the marshmallow the most twice but the magnifying glass cooked it the most in test 1. Next, I changed the location and times I tested 2 more later in the day so the Sun was right above the rigs (the Sun was in line with the rigs exactly and the rigs shadow lined up perfectly with the actual rig). I then hit start on my timer when I was ready to begin and set the marshmallows in the rigs reflected light. This time, the tinfoil cooked it the most in all 3 30 minute tests. The magnifying glass cooked the outside the best, it was burnt in very place it was heat by the magnifying glasses beam in less than 5 minutes! Dissolving Salt Andrea Fernandez, Grade 6, Ecole River Heights School The project is about the observation of different types of salt and their properties reaction to different solvents. During the project there are some variables that are used and applied consistently to the salts: solvents, time, temperature and light. The amount so salt is also consider in the observation using the same amount for each of them. The final result is to determine what salt will dissolve faster and under what conditions. There is a written procedure that will be applied to each of the salts. The salts used in this project are: Epsom salt, sea salt, snow salt and table salt. The water will be used in its different forms to test the salts. During the project, it is necessary the use of pictures and video to record the information and to show how the salt changes when the variables are applied. A record of findings, data analysis, conclusion and areas of improvement will be part of the presentation. Eggs Mya Boettcher, Jesse Boon, Grade 7, Prince Albert and area school For our Science Fair project we tried to hatch chicken eggs! We wanted to try and hatch eggs because baby chicks are so cute and we wanted to take care of them. We also wanted to know what things eggs need in order to hatch. We started incubating the eggs on February 22 and they should have hatched on March fourteenth. We used a Chick Hut to incubate the eggs. A Chick Hut is a small building with no floor and two small sliding doors in the front. We had a soft blanket at the bottom so the eggs would be on a soft surface and a cup of water was kept in there so the eggs would stay moist. We had a cardboard box also that would have been used if the chicks had hatched. Chick starter is the food that we bought to give to the chicks if they would have hatched. Although the eggs did not hatch, we learned a lot and enjoyed working on our project. Electrophoresis Elana Gelineau, Emma Rodman, Grade 7, Ecole River Heights School For our project we examined electrophoresis. For this project we made gel using agar powder, baking soda, and water. After we made the gel, we let it set in a little plastic container. Then we placed a styrofoam comb into the gel to make three wells. After about an hour the gel had set. We then put two stainless steel wires in the gel each about the width of the box so the wires would stay. We placed one wire at each end of the box. We then put in the buffer solution which is made up of baking soda and water. Once we placed the buffer solution on the gel, we took out the comb and placed red, blue, and green food colouring in the wells. After that we attached five 9-­‐volt batteries together, attached the batteries to alligator clip leads, and watched the colours move. We tried this experiment five times over all. The reason that green worked the best is because it is a secondary color. That means it is made up of two or more colours so the particles in the green colour moved the fastest cause they have less weight to carry. Eye Get it Now! Emma Benkic, Veronica Dirk-­‐Pothier, Grade 8, Lakeridge School Our project is whether eye colour affects sight. Our hypothesis was that eye colour would not affect your sight because eye colour comes from genetics and you see from your pupil, not the iris where the eye colour is located. We had to gather test subjects, 5 with brown eyes, 5 with green eyes and 5 with blue eyes. We then brought one at a time into a dimly lit room with a blindfold on, then they took it off and had 3 seconds to identify each colour of paper that we were holding on the other side of the room. While the test subjects were saying there answers one of us listed them down. We did this with all of our test subjects. Once we averaged all of the answers and we put them into graphs, our conclusion was that eye colour does not affect sight because even though blue eyes won we think its whether everyone had 20/20 vision or not. Fish of Saskatchewan Rowan Green, Morgan Kristian, Grade 7, Prince Albert and area school Our project is a life science display of game fish in Saskatchewan. We have included all twenty two game fish in the report, along with colored pictures of each fish on the backboard. We have devoted many hours into creating an eye-­‐drawing backboard display with a balance of explained and detailed pictures. Our project also includes fishing techniques for both winter and summer. Our back board shows many fish hook examples and explains different fishing techniques to the viewer. We also will bring examples of real fish hooks so the audience will get a real view. Our report explains how important fish are to us with all the protein and nutrients. Habitat destruction is another big heading for our report. We have explained how humans are affecting the natural fish habitats and what we need to do to stop it. Our back board shows the internal, external, and skeletal body systems of a fish. The end of our reports includes seven mini reports on a couple of Saskatchewan fish. We have a lot of knowledge on this topic and will be able to explain our project in detail and answer any questions thoroughly. How an Internal Combustion Engine in a Lawn Mower Works Owen Perret, Grade 7, Dalmeny School This project demonstrates how an internal combustion engine works in a lawnmower. The display describes the history of the lawnmower from its beginnings to its modern day form. The emphasis of the project is focussed on the inner workings of the lawnmower engine itself. A model, complete with cut-­‐away-­‐portions, clearly shows how all the moving parts work together. How do video game creators make video games? Aiden Jorgenson, Nahin Chowdhury, Grade 6, Ecole Victoria School Our project investigates a personal interest of ours, video games. We were curious to know how professional creators make video games, and also how a regular person like us could make a video game. We researched the game creation process and found out that a game begins with an original idea, then a story board and characters are developed, next the characters are animated, then the game is coded. Coding is like a language for communicating with computers. We learned that there are many types of coding. We put the information we learned to work creating a game of our own using online software called Gamemaker. The game was simple, but attracted a lot of attention at our school science fair. We also looked at the history of video games and current trends in gaming. We found that the first video game was called Space War and was released in 1962, and there have been many changes to game styles and systems in the last 50 years. I Can't Believe It! Leah Mennie, Sarra Hazelwood, Grade 7, Prince Albert and area school We tried to charge an iPad using fruits and vegetables. We saw this done on several YouTube videos and wanted to see if it would really work. We saw different methods on the videos, and so we tried them. One was using an apple, orange and banana and steel nails and copper wire. Another was using an onion soaked in Gatorade. The videos looked like they were really charging devices in these ways, but we had a hard time believing it. When we tried these experiments, we found out that it really does not work. This is what we thought would happen. When we looked back at the videos really closely, we could tell that the cameras were set in a way that was tricking the viewer into thinking that it was really working to charge an ipad with fruits and vegetables. We learned that you cannot always believe what you see on the internet. Ice, Ice Baby Wings Michael Fourie, Grade 8, Dalmeny School My project is about how icing effects plane’s wings. The most common belief is that icing makes the plane stalls earlier than with a wing being clean (stalling is a planes maximum lift height) -­‐ but according to this project, it is not the case. In this project we simulated ice by using very coarse grained sand paper (20 and 36 grit) on an airfoil, and test the lift and drag on the airfoil under various angles in a wind tunnel at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. More specifically, the air foil was tested clean, with simulated ice on the top, on the bottom, and both. The results were plotted and examined. It was discovered that whereas drag is increased by the simulated ice, lift was slightly decreased, but also, and this was unexpected, stalling was much less severe. What I mean is that icing won't make the plane stall early as people expect. As a matter of fact, with simulated ice on the top and bottom, stalling did not happen at all. This could have impact on wing design. Ice vs. Pykrete Erwin Risseeuw, Liam Collins, Grade 7, Ecole River Heights Our project is about pykrete. Pykrete is a substance that is made of a mixture of water and a wood pulp of some form, then frozen. This could be useful because it could make ice roads stronger and safer. Are question was what percentage of pykrete would work the best with pykrete. In our experiment we froze 150g ice blocks all with different percentages of pykrete. We froze 2 blocks per percentage. Then we tested them by hanging weight underneath. We did this with all of the bolcks. We did all the percentages 0-­‐5 and percentages 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15. The experiment worked out good, are hypothesis was close to correct but not quite. So we figured out that pykrete does make a big difference as the 15% could hold about 20kg more weight than normal ice. We also noticed that it was a lot more flexible than normal ice. It was fun to do and we really enjoyed doing it. Identification of Wheat Leaf Rust Genes WenYu Ruan, Amy Wang, Grade 10, Walter Murray Collegiate Recently, an unknown gene (Lr2BS) for leaf rust resistance was identified in wheat; however, no one knows how this gene protects wheat against leaf rust. The lines that we are studying were from parent wheat plants RL4452 and AC Domain. Our objective was to determine whether or not the unknown gene Lr2BS was affective in protecting the plant at the seedling stage, and how the gene interacts with the other genes present in the plants. During our project, we did DNA extractions, ran PCRs and agarose gels to identify the genes in each plant. We also sprayed our plants with two different types of races (leaf rust), MGBJ and a mixture race. We watched the development of pustules and chlorosis on the individual leaves of each plant, and scored them based on the appearance of disease. Some were resistant, while others were susceptible to the disease. We also placed different samples under a fluorescent microscope and we were able to better see the development of the disease within each cell. At the end of our experiment, we discovered a new gene that is resistant at the seedling stage. We also proved half our hypothesis, and disproved the other half. The unknown gene Lr2BS is susceptible, and the gene interaction aids resistance in the plant. La Pouvoir de la Suggestion Lillian Thomson, Tatum Stolar, Grade 8, Ecole River Heights The purpose of this experiment was to see how long it would take before the brain took to over the power of suggestion. We asked 12 people to listen to a popular song 'Roar' by Katy Perry with a white noise playing behind it at same time. We slowly faded the song behind the white noise, making it more dominant. We asked them to clap when they thought the song had been completely faded. We then recorded the amount of time it took for them to realise the music had stopped playing. We also did lots of research to understand more about paredolia also known as the power of suggestion. Paredolia is when someone or something influences your thoughts which also often influences your actions. There's more than one type of suggestion like mass suggestion, or even the placebo effect, which many doctors use. We learned a lot and our conclusion was much different than what we thought. Our thoughts were that it would take them more than 30 seconds to notice and the older they were the longer it would take, even so that was not the case. In fact it was opposite, the older they were it didn't take them any longer than a teenage boy. None of the people we tested took more than 15 seconds to know when the song had been faded out. It was an interesting project that had many ups and downs to it. Le Chambre de Tornade Théo Gadoua, Walker Struthers, Grade 8, Ecole River Heights Abstrait : Toute les tornades sont les vortex puissant, mais comment l’endroit d’air effet la direction, grandeur et vitesse du vortex ? Ce projet concentre sur l’endroit où l’air entre la tornade par utiliser une petite chambre crée spécifiquement pour un vortex. Notre hypothèse était que les incisions placées sur chaque côté de la chambre vont aider à faire un plus bon vortex et qu’on peut contrôler la grandeur avec la glace carbonique. Les résultats support notre hypothèse. La direction était contrôlée avec les incisions et la glace carbonique a fait un plus grand vortex que l’humidificateur, notre deuxième source de brouillard. L’expérimente aussi montre qu’une tornade qu’est plus grande au début diminue en grandeur plus vite qu’une tornade qu’est plus petite au début et va pour le même but de temps. Conclusion : Notre hypothèse était correcte car le vortex n’avait pas vraiment marché quand nous n’avons pas 4 incisions. Nous pouvons contrôler la grandeur avec le brouillard (glace carbonique et humidificateur). Notre source d’erreurs : Nous pensons que les incisions était coupé pauvrement et notre ventilateur était un peut trop vite. La glace carbonique avait un plus bon effet visuel. Un intéressant étude pour l’avenir est d’utiliser plus qu’un ventilateur pour voire l’effet sure la vitesse, direction et grandeur du vortex. Le Laboratoire Ionique Kaylee Ehrmantraut, Grade 6, Ecole River Heights A conductivity tester was made and used to test the amount of electricity conducted in different solutions and to see if it is covalent or ionic solutions that conduct electricity in water. Distilled water, distilled water mixed with sugar and distilled water and salt was used to conduct this part of the experiment. Different concentrations of salt were used to see if this has an impact on the amount of electricity conducted. If the sugar or salt solution conducted electricity then the LED light attached to the electrodes turns on with varying intensity depending on the amount of ions present. The second part of the experiment was to see which household solutions have their bonds held together by ionic bonds or covalent bonds. Some of the solutions used in this part of the experiment were baking soda mixed with distilled water, regular tap water, vodka (ethanol), vinegar, bleach and laundry detergent. Left and Right Karissa Schultz, Grade 7, Ecole Victoria School My project is about the sciences of the right left hand dominance. In this project I asked: What is the left hand history? What are the percentages of the right and left hand? What is ambidexterity? How does the brain choose what hand is in dominance? All together these questions gave me many important pieces of information. I found out that if you're left handed that means a development glitch, I found out how the brain controls with the meaning of right or left hand dominance. This project was probably the most interesting pieces of science I've ever learned, it was very fun to do the research and a pleasure presenting it. My project really showed me the meaning of being right or left handed and how it's chosen, I believe that everybody should know what I learned. I know for one of my teachers, this was a very new piece of information, for she is left handed and she has a learning disability, which would explain the development glitch in being left handed. I'm very interested in this regional science fair and this is the project I have to show. Les reactions et la menthe Dana Wood, Maya Sorsdahl, Grade 8, Ecole River Heights School For our science fair project we studied the effects of peppermint on a person's reaction time. After reading that some teachers in the United States give their students peppermint in order to achieve better results on state testing days, we were intrigued to see if peppermint could help us on our tests. The tests that we included were multiplication tests and a ruler drop test after the subjects either ate a peppermint or inhaled peppermint essence. We tested one boy and one girl from our class who were the same age and had approximately the same average in mathematics. Also, we made sure that the tests were taken in the same room to provide less variables. Before we followed through with the tests we did lots of research and found that many other tests of the same sort were inconclusive. Our tests results proved to be the same, some of the tests had excellent results with peppermint helping a lot while other tests were the opposite. Nutrients In, RFOs Out Melody Song, Grade 8, Greystone Heights School My project focuses on the chickpea (Cicer arietinum), a major Saskatchewan pulse crop and also the second most important pulse crop in the world. Chickpeas are good sources of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and protein; with its protein quality considered better than other pulse crops. It also has less digestible starch, which results in a slow and steady digestion pace; this does not create glucose spikes in the blood and reduces the chance of diabetes. It is also the best legume to reduce high cholesterol levels. However, chickpeas also contain raffinose family oligosaccharides (RFO) which cause indigestion and flatulence in humans. Also, chickpeas have high nutritional value, making it beneficial to find effective cooking methods to reduce RFO content while maintaining nutritional value. I will evaluate the effectiveness of boiling, microwaving, germinating and soaking (control) chickpeas. The first objective of my project is to identify RFO, soluble sugars, starch, raffinose, stachyose and verbascose content of the chickpeas after each cooking method. The second objective of my project is to analyze nutrient and mineral content of the chickpeas using the U of S Synchrotron Facility. This project will provide important information about the best method to consume chickpeas to maximize nutrient and mineral content while decreasing RFO content. This information will be beneficial to Canadian and international consumers who can continue to enjoy the nutritional benefits of the chickpea with fears of RFOs. Parachutes Matthew Dyck, Paul Thompson, Grade 7, Ecole River Heights We wondered if circular parachutes were really the safest shape of a parachute. We then thought of the question: can the shape of a parachute change its drop velocity? We thought of five different shapes to make out of plastic sheets. The shapes were circle, square, triangle, rectangle, and diamond. We then cut out the shape from plastic sheets, and then put four holes in each parachute. We put string through each hole. We made sure that they all had the same area as the others. We took the parachutes to the Agricultural building at the University of Saskatchewan. We dropped the parachutes from a 37 foot platform from the landing zone. We then threw all the parachutes and after all they landed we found our end results. Circle had the slowest time, therefore it would be safest. Diamond had the fastest time. Triangle was second safest. Square was second most dangerous and then there was rectangle, left right in the middle. Overall we found this a very fun and entertaining experiment. Polish Craze! Shyla Richards, Grade 8, Lakeridge School For this project, I wanted to see whether wearing nail polish affects the growth of fingernails. My hypothesis was that wearing nail polish will slow down the growth of nails because nail polish contains many ingredients that could potentially be harmful to nails and slow down their growth. I tested my hypothesis by enrolling test subjects to participate in my experiment. They were asked to measure the growth of their nails weekly without nail polish for four weeks. After trimming their nails at the end of the control test and applying nail polish, they were asked to record the nail growth weekly for the next four weeks. I calculated the average nail growth with and without nail polish and compared the results. I found that my hypothesis was correct. Fingernails grow slower when wearing nail polish. I also found that the nails on the left hand grew faster than the nails on the right hand both with and without polish. Quelle fleur est la plus facile a teintre Ania Gray, Sophia Quiring, Grade 6, Ecole River Heights School Our project is about which flower is the easiest to dye and why. We conducted an experiment to find the answer. We used a daisy, a chrysanthemum and an aster monte casino. We researched why the one that dyed the most easily did. At the end of leaving the flowers in 3 cups of water with 30 drops of red food colouring for each flower for twenty four hours, the daisy had the most red, the aster monte casino had some and the chrysanthemum had barely any. The daisy had the most colour because of a thing called capillary action. Because the daisy has the thinnest stem, there is more suction because there is more surface tension. The daisy absorbs water which goes into the flowers petals. When the water evaporates it pulls other water up to take its place because water sticks to itself. The chrysanthemum did not absorb very much colour because its stem was the thickest. Radioactive Beans Gurraj (Raj) Hothi, Jingei Tan, Grade 9, Walter Murray Collegiate Radiation has become a constant in the modern world, whether it’s cell phone radiation, thermal heat radiation, radio waves, microwave radiation, and more radiation types. Throughout the modern era, as technology advances, problems in the health of people have also risen, which have lead people to question whether all the radiation going on is one of the problems. For example; it’s come to people’s attention that when microwaves are used to heat food, much of the original chemical components in the food are altered in undesirable, unsafe ways. The problem we are exploring is merely one aspect of microwaves, and that question is; “What is the effect of microwave radiation on living organisms?” By exposing microwave radiation on mung beans, we will observe the outcome and also question ourselves. If this is a result of brief exposure of microwave radiation on mung beans, how do all the other types of radiation happening in today’s world affect the environment? We microwaved the mung beans in 5 seconds intervals until a minute was up, and then attempted to allow the beans to germinate. We then examined the results of microwave radiation on the germination of mung beans. Radish Seed Germination Veronika Tischenko, Lia Vorobyev, Grade 8, Prince Albert and area school Our project is about Radish seed Germination. We decided to do this project because we wanted to see how dangerous microwave radiation is on our health. We decided to use radish seeds, to see the affect that it has on the seeds. The question of our project is to find out how the germination of radish seed is affected by microwaves. We proved that the germination of radish seeds is affected by microwaves. First we gathered all the materials, we made labels for our experiment and planned on using timed intervals during the experiment. We put a line of ten radish seeds down the center of the paper towel. We folded the foil around the paper towel and then put a 0 second label on the packet. This is the control group. Fill the coffee cup with water and placed it into the microwave. Put about ten radish seeds into the dry microwave safe container, set the timer for 15 seconds, made sure we had the radish cup and the water cup inside and hit start. After the seeds have been microwaved remove them and place them on another paper towel bed and foil label 15 seconds on the masking tape. Dump out the water in the cup, and put in new cool water. Repeat the procedure microwaving for 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes. We placed the foil packets in a box and checked for germination after 3 days. We Sprayed paper towel with water when it was dry, then we kept observing the germinating plants for four more days. Then we recorded our results in the log book. This project relates to real life situations by, proving that radiation is bad for your health. So to heat up your food, microwave for smaller amounts of time because the radiation will harm your heath less, than longer periods of microwaving time. Recycling Water in your Own Home Kathleen Stoneham, Rayne Butler, Grade 8, Brunskill School This project was made to inform the public on ways to recycle water in your own home. We both did experiments where we saved a lot of water and they were both costless. Also, we made a video to show how simple and cheap it is to install a toilet jug. Save the Honeybees Jarica Gooding, Grade 6, Prince Albert and area school My science fair project is “Save the Honeybees.” It is about how honeybees are becoming endangered, what is causing it and how I feel we can help. Toronto is experiencing a bee loss and taking action. The Royal York Hotel and some other businesses in Toronto have put apiaries on their roofs. Apiaries are man-­‐made beehives. I went to Toronto to interview Chef Collin Thornton, head chef of the Royal York Hotel. He and Geoff Wilson, Saskatchewan’s specialist in Apiculture both believe that pesticides and bug sprays are harming the honeybees most. If we lose honeybees we will also loose honey, beeswax, lots of fruits, lots of vegetables, lots of herbs, crops, some candy, and other foods and products. I feel honeybees play a major role in our lives. If we lose honeybees it will probably affect everyone. I hope to educate people further on honeybees. Please help to save the honeybees! School Swab Down Jordy Voykin, Kallie Irvine, Grade 7, Lakeridge School In January, we grew bacteria from ten pre-­‐selected places in Lakeridge school. Our experiment involves swabbing an area with a sterile cotton swab. We transferred the bacteria we collected from that area, to a petri dish filled with gelled agar. We sealed the petri dishes with tape, and left them to grow in a dark cupboard for 20 days. We surveyed 40 staff and students and asked them to choose one area they thought would be the dirtiest, and one area they thought would be the cleanest. Most people thought the boys' bathroom would be the dirtiest, and the whiteboard would be the cleanest. We checked the bacteria growth every 5 days. After 7 days, we took pictures of the bacteria, and emptied the condensation from the dishes. After 14 days, we took comparison pictures. We concluded the experiment after 20 days. We were surprised to find the most bacteria growing on our classroom whiteboard, and the least growing on the office phone. We presented our project at the Lakeridge School Science Fair on February 4, 2014. Seasoned Experiments Kezia Fourie, Grade 11, Dalmeny School My project is on the relationship between clay minerals, carnallite, sylvite and halite under different concentrations. It is important as it determines how one determines the result when looking for potash resources as carnallite is bad for ground conditions due to its unstable structure. In my experiment I used kaolinite as my clay mineral and added it too three different groups of solutions. The first solution contained 18.3gr NaCl, 289.91gr MgCl2, and 106.3gr KCl. The second solution consisted of 22.3gr NaCl, and 243.1gr KCl. The final and third solution contained 18.2gr NaCl, 168.64gr MgCl2 and 190.6gr KCl. There was a group with no clay, one with .2gr of clay, one with 2gr of clay and the final group had 20gr of clay. After these were precipitated, I ran the samples using and XRD. This gave me the results I needed in order to answer my hypothesis. I found that the more clay I added the more sylvite formed. Also, in the sample group 3A-­‐3D I found that bischofite formed ahead of carnallite. This could possibly prove that carnallite is secondary to bischofite which is a significant discovery in the potash and geology world. I also found that XRD readings are important when working with geology and potash samples as it is easy to assume without knowing what is actually happening in the samples. Had I not been able to use the XRD, I might have just assumed that clay does increase the crystallization of halite, sylvite and carnallite, but would have missed out of the biscofite. Sound’s Dark Side Andrew Kim, Grade 9, Walter Murray Collegiate In today’s world of music, sound shields are becoming a growing necessity for many music players. With such instruments such as the piccolo and the trumpet, often the ears are assailed by noise that may deafen. Sound shields are like music stands that are made out of different materials to absorb this incredibly loud sound at different distances. Our goal is to find which material may help shield the best and at what distance from the sound source the said shield will prove most effective. This can extend to sound barriers for other uses, such as construction sites as well. And just how effective are they, anyway? In this project, I wanted to find out what insulating material would be the most effective for blocking sound, or for use as a sound barrier. I compared foam and plexiglass, the two most commonly used materials for these so-­‐called sound shields. After numerous trials and experiments, I found that the foam worked well in the middle while the plexiglass worked better at the ends. This was because the area that the sound spreads onto is r^2. However, we take the inverse of this, or 1/r^2 to find the amount of sound that hits the barrier. This is proportional to the amount of sound that originally comes out of the sound source. The Effect of UV light on Sunscreen Chantelle Mack, Grade 8, Lakeridge School Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of various sunscreen products in selected environmental conditions. Introduction: The number one cause of skin cancer is the over exposure of skin to UV light. Sunscreen companies have made different sunscreens using various levels of SPFs. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor, which is defined as the effectiveness of different suntan products in protection of UV light, rated on a scale. Materials: UV detecting beads, Tanning oil, SPF 15 sunscreen, SPF 30 sunscreen, SPF 45 sunscreen, SPF 60 sunscreen, tray or flat surface, video camera, timer, UV checker, Q-­‐tips, UV color reference chart Procedure: 1. Thinly coat 6 UV sensitive beads, 1 with tanning oil, 1 with SPF 15 sunscreen, 1 with SPF 30 sunscreen, 1 with SPF 45 sunscreen, and 1 with SPF 60 sunscreen, using a Q-­‐tip to help coat the insides of the beads, washing hands after each application (to prevent cross contamination of the different sun tan products). Make sure you are using the same brand and type of suntan product (to rule out the dosage from being a factor in the experiment) 2. Expose each set of beads into the sunlight for about 20 minutes. Time and video this step carefully. While waiting for these beads to change color, record the temperature, reel feel, UV index, humidity, cloud cover, dew point, time of day, and date on a chart. 3. Arrange the beads on an adhesive surface to ensure they do not move around in the wind and attach the reference color scale close to the beads to make color change observations easier and more precise. 4. Cover the beads with a light protective cover to prevent exposure to sunlight before the start of the experiment. 5. When the 20 minutes are up, watch the video and record your observations using a chart. Carefully match the color of each bead at each minute to the color graph. The Effects of Gas Spillage on Earthworms and the Effect it has On the Soil Economy Gabriella Fourie, Grade 9, Dalmeny School My project is about the effect that gas spills have on earthworms and what that does to the soil economy. In this project I did three experiments. My first experiment was a control, just to make sure that the soil that we bought wasn't contaminated. We had problems with a white parasite which killed a few of the worms but the university said they too have had problems with the parasite and it wasn't due to the soil. The second experiment was to see how the earthworms react to different amounts of "gas spillage". There were four jars with 50mls of gas and four jars with 5mls of gas. The worms with in the 50mls of gas died within a half hour. The worms in the 5mls of gas died in 4 hours. I did a third experiment in which I took a container and put clean soil on one side and contaminated soil on the other side. The worms were put on the contaminated side to see if they would go to the clean soil side. In the end they did not, they just moved in a random movement. In conclusion we proved that on a larger scale gas and oil spills are extremely fatal to the soil economy. Without earthworms we would not have the fertile and nutrient rich ground which they enhance. This also shows rehabilitation is critical and the necessary legal framework should be established. The Font Effect Kaitie Moxness, Grade 8, Ecole River Heights An examination of the impact of font type on readability and recall. Research involved the use of sets of simple words produced in three different fonts, using a total of twelve fonts all together. The word lists were given to test subjects who were then provided with a brief amount of time to review the words. When the time was up, the subjects were asked to write as many of the words from their lists as they could recall. Results were calculated according to the percentage of words correctly identified and recalled. Test variability was controlled through three random distributions of word lists and font types among test subjects. The average of three separate test results for each font were then calculated to allow for more accurate test results for each font. Results identified that font type has an impact on the ability of subjects to accurately recognize and recall simple words. The Shock of Hair Megan Doucette, Ava Linklater, Grade 6, Lakeridge School We tested to see if different colors and cleanliness of hair affects the amount of static electricity produced on a human head. We thought that if we rub a balloon on someone's hair then the static electricity will be the same regardless of hair color because pigments to do not produce static electricity. We used four hair colors: red, black, brown, and blonde. our conclusion was that if you hair was washed it would stay stuck to the wall longer and that if it wasn't washed that it would be full of oils which acts as an insulator which would not let the balloon stay stuck to the wall as long. We also found that the darker the hair the more pigments it produced the longer the balloon stuck to the wall. We really enjoyed testing different hair colors when they were washed or dirty, but it was a very time consuming project. V-­‐Hull vs Flat Hull Raft Austin Larsen, Grade 7, Prince Albert and area school This experiment is used to determine which kind of raft will hold more weight when placed in water. The question I had in this experiment was which hull design would hold more weight? My hypothesis was that the flat hull raft would hold more weight. I compared the v-­‐hull and the flat hull designs. The problem that I was solving was which design should be used for cargo vessels and what other uses these hull designs might have. I used popsicle sticks and hot glue to make to rafts. I floated the rafts in water and then determined which design would hold more weight. I repeated the experiment three times to obtain an average weight that each raft would hold. I observed that the flat hull design would hold more weight and was more stable than the v-­‐hull design in water. My hypothesis was correct that the flat hull design holds more weight. Vacuum Chamber Brayden Hemeon, Grade 7, Lakeridge School In this experiment, a vacuum chamber was created to test the effects of a pressure drop on different objects. Various pumps were created to test objects in the vacuum chamber. A venture tube, a vacuum cleaner and a reverse bicycle pump were built to find the greatest pressure drop. Of the three vacuum pumps that were built, the one with the greatest pressure drop was used to conduct the vacuum chamber experiment. A vacuum chamber was built and hooked up to the vacuum pump. If a low enough air pressure could be created, then the objects inside the vacuum chamber would expand. The vacuum pump sucked out most of the air causing lower air pressure inside the chamber. Numerous tests were conducted to determine the effect on different objects inside the vacuum chamber. While testing, there was no reaction to some of the objects. However, there were reactions to objects that had air pockets in them. One experiment in particular is to see what happens to a marshmallow under varying pressures. Visual and Molecular Detection of Blackleg in Canola Matthew Zheng, Grade 10, Walter Murray Collegiate Canada exports 1/3 of the world’s need for canola, contributing over 15.4B to the Canadian economy. Blackleg caused by fungus Leptosphaeria maculans is a major disease of Canola and trade barrier for canola export (2). Blackleg can either be spread through airborne spores or from water droplets from infected crops. Fig 1 demonstrates the percent incidence of blackleg stem canker infected plants. A sensitive diagnostic method is valuable for detection of the disease and securing canola’s export. Two of the ways to efficiently diagnose blackleg is through molecular techniques like PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and q(quantitative)PCR. PCR has been used since the 1980s’ to identify the presence and the absence of bacteria and fungus. Recently, qPCR has been suggested as a diagnostic tool for bacteria and fungus (3, 4). The purpose of this project is to explore the possibility of using qPCR as a diagnostic tool to identify blackleg fungus. The data presented here validates the effectiveness of qPCR as a diagnostic tool for identification of blackleg in canola. Wacky Work on Worms and Wolverines Csaba Nemeth, Morgan Tannis, Grade 8, Greystone School Parasitic roundworms (nematodes) and tapeworms (cestodes) are commonly found in wildlife. They usually have complex life cycles with intermediate and definitive hosts. They can also be found in the intestinal tract of wolverines but very little is known about these species. Certain species of parasitic worms can be harmful to humans if ingested. The objective of this study was to identify parasitic worms in wolverines by morphological and molecular techniques. We examined intestines from 9 wolverines and found 59 parasitic worms in total. Of these parasites, 58 were of the genus Baylisascaris (roundworm) and one Taenia (tapeworm) as determined by morphological identification. We used a polymerase chain reaction method on 10 samples (9 Baylisascaris and one Taenia) to identify what species they belonged to. After comparison with known genetic sequences in the GenBank, we concluded that we found a genetically undocumented species of Baylisascaris. This study is important from a basic scientific perspective because it adds to our knowledge of parasitic diseases in Canadian wildlife. Waste Water Recycling B’yauling Toni, Milan Jablan, Grade 8, Brunskill School Our project is about recycling water specifically in Saskatoon. After further research we discovered that if we added two additional steps in the water treatment process we could successfully recycle sewage water. These processes are called reverse osmosis and microfiltration. We have made a model that shows how our current water system works and also shows what would have to happen to add the two additional steps we mentioned. On our tri-­‐fold we compared Saskatoon's to what is happening in Europe. We discovered Europe already recycles water on a daily basis to be used for every day purposes. Wi-­‐Fried Ryan Potts, Samuel Lafond, Grade 7, W.P. Sandin School After reading about wi-­‐fi affecting humans in a study done in Denmark we decided to research how/if wi-­‐fi affects plants. We used radish seeds and grew them until they had all started to sprout. We then placed them in sterilized petri dishes with a damp paper towel. Some of the petri dishes were placed close to a wi-­‐fi router and others were placed far away from one. We did the experiment in two different houses. The plants were watered whenever they needed water, which was several times a day. We also placed some of the plants directly on top of the wireless router and these were severely affected. We found that they plants placed close to a wireless router were negatively affected and did not look as healthy as the plants grown away from the router. The water evaporated from the petri dish on top of the router quickly which may have contributed to the plants unhealthy appearance. We can deduce that wi-­‐fi does in fact negatively affect plant growth.