Story by student reporter, Casey Buckman

In a competition that tested students’ comprehension of the scientific method and their organizational skills, Thomas County Central High School hosted its annual science fair.

The school had 10 first place projects, eight second place projects and eight third place projects.

“I am always impressed with the variety of topics students choose to explore through science,” Laura Kornegay, TCCHS science teacher said. “I am looking forward to seeing how well our students do as we compete at region and state levels.”

The two projects that won overall were by C’lee Kornegay and by partners, Parker Maroney and Irvin Moore.

C’lee Kornegay’s project explores how biodiversity affects algal response to ocean acidification.

“This is relevant to the environment because ocean's pH is steadily decreasing due to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” she said.

Moore and Maroney’s project is called “Biodiesel.” It focused on comparing the price to make biodiesel with the price of regular diesel. Maroney “was amazed” at the project’s placement.

Students were judged Dec 2. Entrants who placed first or second have the chance to move on to the region competition.

The next level will be held on Feb. 10 at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton.

“I feel that my placement is fair because my project was not complicated,” second place winner Kaleb Ward, 15, said. “For the next level of competition, I will prepare by improving my data analysis.”

TCCHS’ science department had students participate in the fair to teach them how to investigate a problem and design their own experiments to test their hypothesis. The students can learn about the scientific process and explore interests in science topics outside of the classroom curriculum.

Topics included the neutralization of acids, the effect of color paper and gender on memory recall, and the biomechanics of pitching.

Each judge had specialties to keep in mind when evaluating each project. Their judgement relied on the participant's ability to work through problems using the scientific method.

“I look for a good understanding of the scientific method,” Valdosta State University professor and judge Josh Rodefer said. “In particular, students who understand the background information, have good logic, and a well-controlled experiment are frequently characteristics that I look for when reading through the posters and journals.”

Rodefer addressed that a topic, even if the experiment is simple, “can be a great project.”

“I look for a good, solid foundation of the scientific method, clean independent and dependent variables and a concerted effort to control as many other factors as possible,” judge Tammy Sharpe, a Thomas County Middle School teacher, said.

Sharpe also noted that project presentation and topic are important factors.

“The topic that is unique and thoughtful will attract my attention,” she said. “I want to see that students are looking at the world around them and finding topics that are relevant and have potential to impact current scientific problems.”

Judge Allen Harden, a retired TCCHS science teacher, said “effort” and “usefulness of information” is what made winning projects stand out from the rest.

Participants are looking forward to the next level of competition.

“I’m excited that me and my partner, Park Maroney, placed first,” Irvin Moore, said. “I am aware the next stage of competition is tough, so I am going to make it creative and add more to make the project stand out.”

First Place Winners

“Rooting out the truth” by Katelyn Hancock

“The Power of Bacteria” by Eli Kosciw

“Storage temperature of Batteries” by Josh Stephens   

“No Hands” by Ben Wilhelm and Chase Darely

“Dew you trap?” by Gabby Melnick   

“Are you Basic?” by Emily Johnson

“How Diversity Impacts Algae Response to Ocean Acidation?” by Celia Kornegay

“Double walled vacuum sealed tumbler” by Nick Herndon

“Can you take the heat?” by Ashlyn Quattlebaum   

“Biodiesel” by Parker Maroney and Irvin Moore

Second Place Winners

“Nitro Grow” by Cheyenne Little   

“Accuracy of Sugar” by Abigail Witcher, Jade Moser and Gabby Hoffs   

“Which antacid?” by Trinity Sanders

“Let your flag fly high” by Mary Beth Wise   

“Nothin' but rim” by Landon Trotter and Chad Shelton   

“Magnetism and Planaris”by Gretchen Turnbull   

“Typing on Tempo” by Kaleb Ward   

“Biomechanics of pitching” by Tyler Carter and Adrienne Carson   

“Cornucopia” by Jeremy Simmons   

“Lemon Power” by Matt Sherrod

Third Place Winners

“The Beauty and the Bacteria” by Chelsey Lawler

“Think Fast” by Kealie Bennett and Caroline Pope   

“When your hot you hot” by Bailey Allen   

“The Effect of Color Paper and Gender on Memory Recall” by Nathan Blanchard   

“Pucker Up” by Meg Harnevious   

“Could I have juice with that?” by Zachary Sharpe   

“The kick is good” by Emily Mitchell and Christina Smith   

“Bubble Party” by Edjenee Corbin   

“Crayons” by James Gray   

“Hooked” by Jesse Stone