Young scientists from Thomas County Central High School have received honors at the state level for their innovative thinking.
A group of TCCHS students competed in the 70th Georgia Science and Engineering Fair held March 22-24 at the University of Georgia. Two individual students and one duo earned special awards or commendations.
Senior C’lee Kornegay earned second place in the Earth and Environmental Science category, a UGA Crop and Soil Science Plant Food Education Society Award, and was chosen as one of two Georgia delegates to attend the National Youth Science Camp.
Kornegay calls her selection to attend the national camp a huge honor.
“This foundation only selects two people per state to attend the camp, and I am excited that I will get to represent my school and state at this nationwide program,” she said. “When they called my name saying that I won, I was surprised. I think that I was selected based on my passion and devotion to science and my participation in programs similar to this such as the Governor’s Honors Program.”
Her experiment tested how response to ocean acidification is affected by algal color. She used algae’s three colors – red, brown and green – and tested two species of each color.
“I acidified half of my samples using a SodaStream Carbonator and compared the biomass, optical density, and dissolved oxygen levels to the samples of algae that were not acidified,” Kornegay explains. “I found that the algae exposed to acidification after three weeks had higher productivity than the algae that was not. According to two out of my three tests, the brown algae had higher productivity than the red and green. Higher productivity does not necessarily mean that these treatments are better; rapid production of algae could form algal blooms to grow in water, eventually depleting the water of oxygen and causing fish to die.”
She feels her project’s practical applications in society helped it stand out to the University of Georgia Crop and Soil Science Plant Food Education Society Award judges.
“My research could lead to increased efficiency in algal farms producing biofuels, and it further emphasizes the impact that ocean acidification has on our natural ecosystems,” Kornegay says. “I was not expecting to get this award at all, but I was honored to receive a plaque and $100 that I will put toward my college education.”
Freshman Bradley Dechman earned the Tellus Science Museum Future Science Stars Award. In a fortuitous twist, this is the second time Dechman has earned the award.
His project, entitled “Burning Briquettes for Big Change,” is about saving the planet and introduces an alternative to using wood for cooking fires, a common practice in third world countries that creates carbon dioxide and can cause global warming, Dechman says. One way Earth naturally combats global warming is trees, he continues, because they use carbon dioxide in photosynthesis to make their food. However, cutting down trees to burn them negates this, and Dechman says one way to solve the problem is to find an alternative fuel source.
He created briquettes using common household waste products: ground, dried out banana peels, dried out coffee grounds, and ground, dried out peanut shells. He then tested to see if these would boil 200 mL of water.
“The results were that the briquette made from coffee grounds boiled water the hottest and longest,” Dechman says. “The banana briquette also boiled water while the peanut briquette didn't quite reach the boiling point of water.”
Dechman enjoyed the experience of presenting his project to the judges, particularly those who were college professors.
“It felt pretty cool to be interviewed by some UGA chemistry professors, because they could possibly continue with my idea to come up with a solution,” he said.
Dechman also enjoyed seeing and hearing about some of the other students’ projects.
“I thought the science fair was packed with extremely smart people with some great ideas,” he said.
Emily Johnson and Gabby Melnick are Tellus award alternates. Their project tested moisturizers with and without hyaluronic acid to determine the one that would best benefit a student’s skin.
Melnick is thankful she and Johnson advanced to state competition and appreciates the new experience.
“I thought our project was interesting and benefited our knowledge,” she said. “It was something we both thought was fascinating, and we had fun completing it.”
Because of the level of competitive projects, Melnick says she was shocked when their names were called as alternates for the Tellus Science Museum Future Science Stars Award.
“All the competitors had great projects…there was so many people there,” she said. “I think maybe our interest and passion stood out to the judges, and we were able to respond thoroughly to the questions asked.”
National Youth Science Camp will be held this summer. Kornegay looks forward to the experience.
“This program allows 100 students from all over the nation from all of their different backgrounds to congregate together for the sole purpose of furthering their education of science,” she says. “I cannot wait to deepen my passion and understanding for science while learning from experiences of others from across the nation.”