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Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences Central Regional Science Fair 2019

Welcome to the annual 2019 Central Regional Science Fair!

This year’s presentation will feature Hastings College Biologist Dr. Amanda Solem. She will tell you about her favorite molecule, RNA!

We would like to extend a Thank You to all of the participants, parents, teachers, judges, Hastings College students and support staff, Fresh Ideas, employees and Dr. Amanda Solem for being our speaker.

Without your support and help, this event would not be possible.

Neil Heckman, Science Fair Chairperson Lynette Shea, Science Fair Coordinator To see the full abstract book please go to link:

www.hastings.edu/sciencefair

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Category 1 - Animal Sciences

DeCALFinated J-1

Cole Brandes

Central City Public Schools, Anna Detlefsen

I chose this project involving cattle because I wanted to know if the size of the cow and size of

the cow’s pelvis affect the weight and calving ease of the calf. I predicted the calf would be

about half of the cow’s pelvic area and about six percent of the cow’s weight. To start this

experiment I gathered 26 random cattle from our 200 head and all nine of our heifers. I

pregnancy-checked then pelvic measured them from top to bottom and side to side. Later on I

waited for them to calve. When that happened I weighed their calves and determine the calf’s

gender and calving ease of the birth. I found the calves were roughly 50 to 90 pounds and the

cows’ pelvic areas were anywhere from 150 to 300 square centimeters. The cow also weighed

between 1000 and 1600 pounds. From this experiment I learned the cow's pelvic area did not

appear to directly affect the calf's weight. I also observed calving ease should be noted based

on a series of factors and not just as unassisted because many more factors besides pelvic area

emerged. However, I also found the cow’s weight did affect the calf’s weight. In the next

experiment I would like to measure the calf circumference instead of weight. I also want to

minimize the effects of other potential variables like using the same bull.

The Learning Curve and Memory Ability of Horses(equus cabalus) to Discover Treats J-2

Brooklyn Meyer

Silver Lake Public Schools, Kim Bonifas

Animals usually get feed in the same spot. When they are hungry they go to that spot to show

they want to be feed. If they can remember then it could be used to peoples benefit. Many

people train their horse by themselves. If horses can remember things in a certain way it could

help them when they train them. If they want to learn so they get things in return will make

them act better when they are learning. It would be easier for the owner to have as many tricks

for them.

In this website (https://www.parelli.com/ ) trainers tell you ways to train a horse. They do it

different ways than others. People train horses so they are manageable so that the person can

control what they would like to do. There are many different tasks that train to do different

jobs. To find one specific way to train horses is challenging. Some websites say to have trust,

other say to be experienced. It helps the horses also with their muscles and stretch and their

understanding of how they are trained to remember.

What will happen is the horse will remember where the treat is. In order for horses to

remember things, train the horse frequently so they know what to do. So it might take a couple

tries to remember. If the horse is good at learning new things and gets told what to do then it

might be easier. Try using different treats and lead them different places they hopefully start to

understand. Once it has been done a good amount of times, they should hopefully start to go

right to the treat and find it.

The Amounts of Methane Produced by Different Types of Cattle Manure J-3

Kassi Jones


While methane can be a useful greenhouse gas in producing natural gas and electricity,

methane is also very harmful to our Earth’s ozone. If methane is released into the Earth’s

atmosphere methane can do harmful things to our Earth’s ozone and put holes in the ozone.

Methane can also be a good thing when used properly. Cow manure can be stored in a big tank

called “farm digesters” which keeps methane contained so methane won’t go into the air.

Methane is a colorless gas and if the amount of methane is low, there is slim to no smell, but if

there is a fairly large amount of methane, the methane is odorous and smells sweet. This

project tested 6 kinds of manure to see which kind of manure released the most methane.

Cattle on grass hay and grain mix had the most and cattle on ration 5 have the least.

Which Treat a Horse Picks First J-4

Trey Vance


People can give horses raisins, grapes, bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe or other melons,

celery, pumpkin, and snow peas. Nebraska horses are mostly used for either breeding, 4-H,

rodeo, and farming/ranching, and possibly meat. The horses will probably pick the treat that

smells good. Five horses were used for this project, and five different treats. The conclusions

are that horses like oats and apple treats better than most treats.

The Effects on the Heart Rate of a Horse (Equus Caballus) After Grooming J-5

Sydney Bartels


Christopher Columbus first brought horses to America from Spain in 1493. Ever since, humans

have used horses for various jobs. It is hypothesized that horses will calm down quicker when

they are brushed rather than when they just stand still to cool down. This experiment tested

the heart rates of horses after they were exercised, then stood still and brushed. It figured

whether a horse cooled down quicker after they were groomed, rather than just standing still.

This project tested different heart rates in different horses. The horses were different ages and

different genders. In conclusion, the heart rates of the horses decreased more after they were

brushed, compared to, when they just stood still. After they were brushed their heart rate

decreased approximately 20 (bpm), and after stood still, their heart rate decreased

approximately 10 (bpm).

Discovering the Correlation Between Cubing Cows (Bos Taurus) and the Time it Takes to J-6

Tame them

Lana Swanson


Cattle are very important all around the world. In Nebraska, agriculture is the number one

industry. This project will decide if cubing cattle once a week will eventually make them tame

enough to put a halter on them. The hypothesis for this project is that the cows will get tame

after cubing them once a week for five weeks. The cows will get cubed once a week for five

weeks. Every week the observations will get recorded. It will decide if the cows will eventually

get tame enough to put a halter on. On the fifth week, one of the cows got haltered. The cows

got a lot tamer then they were in the beginning of the project.

How Boarding a Dog (Canis Lupus) Affects its Heart Rate J-7

Taylor Hanson


Some people think of dogs as a man's best friend. Being a dog owner takes a lot of work and

dedication. This project was done in cooperation with The Pawliday Inn, a boarding kennel

located in Hastings, Nebraska. The hypothesis is that a dog’s heart rate will change from being

excited or nervous. The project is testing a dog’s heart rate before and after they go to the

Pawliday. You check the heart rate at their living area. Then at the Pawliday, and 30 minutes

later. The results were all the dogs were either nervous or excited to be at the Pawliday, so

their heart rate did rise. The dog’s heart rate was tested at their house, then the Pawliday, and

then 30 minutes later. The heart rate did increase when they got to the Pawliday.

Category 2 - Behavioral & Social Sciences

Puzzling Music: The Effect of Music on Puzzle Completion J-8

Brielle Hamer


I tested how music genre affects the amount of time it takes to complete different sizes of

puzzles. I hypothesized that classical would be the fastest overall because Oxford university did

a recent research project about how classical music had an affect on how well you focus while

doing work. I used a puzzle app with different puzzle size options. Two musical genres- classical

and rock - were tested in addition to a control of no music. I used 9, 16, and 25-piece puzzles

from the same puzzle genre for each trial. Puzzles were not repeated during the trials, but the

puzzle genre was kept the same. During the trials I started the music, gave the test subjects the

puzzle, and timed them while they completed the puzzle. Then I changed the music genre or

puzzle size for subsequent tests. I concluded that rock music had the fastest completion times

for 9 and 16 piece puzzles, but listening to no music was fastest for the 25 piece puzzle. This

leads me to reject my prediction because classical music was not fastest overall for any size

puzzle. I would like to test this again with a physical puzzle instead of only digital ones from an

app, and I would like to test if age had an effect on how fast the puzzles were completed.

Stereo-Type J-9

Makenzie Fousek


I asked how the genre of music would affect my typing speed and accuracy. I chose this project

because I knew that classical music had helped people perform better at certain tasks, but I

generally doubted it would help my typing. I predicted I would have the worst typing speed and

highest number of errors with rock music because of how intense and upbeat it is. I also

believed I would have the highest typing speed and lowest number of errors without music. I

thought I would see better success with classical music compared to rock. I completed three

trials for each genre: rock, pop, classical, and jazz. I also had three trials without music. I used

the website Freetypinggame.net to generate my passage and complete my tests, using the

same passage for each of them. I waited a few minutes between each trial, and generally

believed I didn’t remember the passage due to the fact I was focused more on music than

memorizing the passage. I found while listening to music I struggled most with jazz music, only

reaching 47 words per minute, and had the highest speed with classical at 54 wpm. My best

overall rate came without music at 57 wpm. Additionally, I had the highest number of errors

with jazz music and no errors in any other genre. I think if I were to do this again I would test

with different volumes instead of genres.

The Science Coach J-10

Jordan Head

Hastings Middle School, Bailey Johnson

There are many coaching methods out there, and not all coaches know or understand how or

what coaching methods to use and trust. By breaking down the many methods you get no,

unfocused, and focused coaching. So by hitting, fielding ground balls, and catching Pop Flys,

using these methods you can determine which works the best. After doing this, it was

determined that focused coaching works the best based on the fact that the averages always

increased or were at their highest point, in every category and age group. Clearly, the data

shows this because when using no coaching in hitting the average is 7.7, when using unfocused

coaching the average is 9.0, and when using focused coaching the average is 9.7. The

experiment greatly contributed to the area that it is classified in. It shows that focused coaching

is the best method and will produce the best outcome in players. This experiment completed

and exceeded the objectives.

Gender, Color, and Stereotypes J-11

Lindsay Amaya

Hastings Middle School, Matt Kissinger

Since Isaac Newton first understood the rainbow, we have been continuing our research on

color ever since. We use color to determine lots of objects, ideas, and ways to interpret things.

The soul purpose of my experiment was to try to understand why or why not color affects color

preference. My project possibly could help businesses make their store layout or just simply

help regular people make everyday decisions. I used an easy method to set up my project. I

identified stereotypical colors for each gender and matched them together based on how close

the colors were (red,magenta). As I started to go around and ask for participants, I found six

people who volunteered to help. All six chose which colors they preferred out of the three color

combinations. To compare, I separated the results according to each gender and easily check

my results. My results showed the minor changes between each gender and their preferences.

They revealed that both male and female had the same amount of people choose blue over

purple. However, the results were the complete opposite when the colors were orange and

pink, which was all males on orange and females with pink. My results also showed that color

does not affect color preference, which proves my hypothesis wrong. Also shown was that

there wasn’t a real pattern that each gender followed because the colors that were chosen

were mixed from both color types. Although the way I chose to operate my procedure was

easy, I had some challenges. Starting with the fact that I converted my results to show them as

a whole was one of the hardest followed by choosing colors and the combinations. If this

experiment was to be done again, more research on which colors go with what would make my

project more accurate.

Pet Handedness J-12

Bailey Cedar & Sydney Biltoft

Lawrence Nelson, Abby Hongsermeier

We wanted to learn if animals show dominant hand characteristics. We wanted to do this

project to help people in training their pets and even scientists learn more things about

animals. In our research we learned that handedness in not a learned behavior, it is an innate

behavior. This means it is instinctual. Our hypothesis is that, “using multiple tests, cats will

show dominant hand characteristics.” ”Using multiply tests, dogs will show dominant hand

characteristics.” For the dogs, we executed multiple tests. These tests are the Nose Scratch,

Paw Step, and the Low Level test. For the Nose Scratch, we simply placed a piece of scotch tape

on the bridge of the dog’s muzzle, recording which paw was used to scratch off the tape. The

Paw step test is simple. We placed the dog in a sitting position and called the dog. Again, we

recorded the result. For the third and final dog test, we placed a treat under a door on under a

blanket and recorded what paw was used to try to reach the treat. We also tested cats. For the

cat tests, we executed the Lazer Reach, Feather Reach, and the Ball tests. For the Lazer test, we

placed the lazer just within reach the cat's paw and recorded the paw they reached with. For

the Feather test, we held a feather toy above the cat’s head, and observed and recorded what

paw was used to bat at the toy. For the final cat test, we placed the cat in front of a toy with a

ball inside and then we spun the ball. The cat reached for the the ball with a paw and we

recorded that paw.

The Perfect Shot J-13

Tori Sklenar

Ravenna Public Schools, Scott Stecklein

The Perfect Shot science fair experiment was testing which of three shot positions would be the

most successful. The three shot positions tested were chest, chin, and overhead. Common

knowledge would tell someone to shoot the basketball with one hand on the fingertips.

However, the height at which the ball is released appears to vary between shooters.

To do this experiment, multiple teenage athletes were asked to shoot a basketball from each of

the three shot positions. Their amount of makes were recorded and put into graphs. After three

trials, all makes from each of the three shot positions were averaged so they were easier to

compare and analyze.

After this experiment was completed, the information found was that the chin shot position

was the most successful. The hypothesis for this experiment was: if an athlete shoots a

basketball from chin height, then they will make a higher percentage of shots than they would

from the chest position and overhead position because the chin position will give the athlete

the correct amount of power. The results showed that the chin position was the most

successful.

A Rainbow of Remembrance J-14

Claire Coulter


The purpose of this experiment is to find out what the best color tone to improve memorization

is. Color is one of the most important visual experiences for humans. The more a color stands

out, the easier it is to memorize. The lighter version of a color, stands out more than the normal

color.

To complete this experiment, one would first need to make the seven study guides in black,

dark blue, light blue, dark red, light red, dark green, and light green. Next, test the five test

subjects by giving them one study guide to look at, then take it away to ask him/her to recite as

many numbers as possible and collect data. Repeat throughout the colors and test subjects.

After completion of this experiment, the information obtained shows it is best to study in light

colors versus dark colors. Light blue and light red averaged higher than black, dark blue, and

dark red. Green was an inadequate result because dark green averaged higher than light green.

For the most part, the hypothesis stating light colors are better to study in rather than dark

colors was proven to be correct.

Tasting With Your Eyes J-15

Kennedy Hurt


Colors and flavors seem to correspond like, red corresponds with cherry or strawberry and

green goes with lime or green apple. The experiment is trying to prove whether or not people

will like a liquid if it is a different color than it is “supposed” to be.

First off, the liquid was dyed different colors than what it “should’ve” been. The tester dyed a

white gatorade flavored glacier cherry, orange. The experimenter tested different subjects on

whether or not they liked it and recorded it.

After concluding this experiment, the tester found out that color does affect whether or not

people liked the drink. 75% of the subjects tested thought that one of the drinks were good and

the other one was not. The other 25%, thought that both of the drinks were good and liked the

taste.

Does involvement in sports have an effect on GPA? J-16

Morgyn Fiddelke


Many students in school like to participate in sports. Involvement in these extracurricular

activities are very time consuming and have high energy demands. Many parents believe that

involvement in sports in school is a waste of time and might become a distraction to great

academic performance. They feel like morning and after school practices are getting in the way

of study time for their children. Other parents think that exercise is very important and the

benefits are well worth it. Involvement in sports has been shown to improve concentration,

fitness, test scores, leadership skills and responsibility.

This experiment was designed to determine if involvement in sports have an effect on GPA.

GPA is a standard measure of academic achievement in school. The Roll of Excellent is a list of

students that have achieved a 97% or higher average in all of their classes of a semester. The

students on this list were then categorized based on the sports they were involved in versus no

sport involvement. This data was then graphed and analyzed.

The results of this experiment determined there are more students involved in a sport then

ones that don’t do a sport with a high GPA. It was also determined that there were more girls

than boys on the roll of excellence list in both semesters. Also there were more students that

went out for one sport then students that went out for zero or two. In conclusion, involvement

in sports are proven to help improve GPA.

The Effects Of Various Background Noise's On Recall Ability J-17 Rehgan Miller Silver Lake Public Schools, Kim Bonifas

This project is about how well people can concentrate with different background noises. The

project will show if music, animals, machinery, or no background noise will help people

concentrate. The hypothesis for this project is that background noise will affect the way people

concentrate and people will remember things better when there is no background noise.

People will be able to concentrate better because they won’t be distracted by background

noise. What was done in this project was each person had to be in a quiet place and then a

background noise would play and they would look over a sheet of words for a minute and then

the would have a minute to write as many words as they could remember. The conclusion of

this project is that people concentrate and remember things the best when there is no

background noise.

Memory J-18

Abby Tarr

Wilcox-Hildreth Public Schools, Karen Piel

My name is Abby Tarr and my project seeks to answer the question, which gender has a better

memory boys or girls? I hypothesized that girls would have better short term memory, because

in my experience, girls typically score higher on memorization tests such as the vocabulary tests

we have in Language Arts class. In order to test this hypothesis I made four sets of

flashcards(words, numbers, letters, pictures, and colors) on notecards. Then, I got a group of 8

boys and 8 girls together and showed them each set of cards for five seconds. They were then

asked to record on paper, as close as they could recall what was written on the cards I

previously showed. I repeated the process with the other sets of cards before summarizing and

organizing my data. In conclusion, I found that, on average, girls in sixth grade have a better

short term memory than boys in sixth grade. Although, I was glad to see that my hypothesis in

this case seemed to be upheld, I realize that I am long way off from declaring girls better with

memory skills. I only tested 16 kids out of the entire world. If I were to do this project again, I

would do a much larger sample it would also be a great idea to include an equal variety of

different age groups. Overall, I had fun testing memories of students in the 6th grade class at

my school.

Category 3 - Biochemistry

The Effect of Heat on Protein Denaturation in Different Milks J-19

Eleanor Oliver


Proteins are all over the place and are found in both plants and animals. The human body must

have proteins to work properly and they must be broken down or denatured so they can be

used. This experiment was designed to look at one aspect of protein denaturation, heat, on

both plant and animal milk protein. My hypothesis was that the denaturation temperature of

the plant milk proteins would be lower than animal milk proteins. Six different milks, three

plant milks, rice, soy and almond, and three animal milks, cow, goat and human were treated

with heat to determine what temperature caused a physical change in the milk to indicate

denaturation. To my surprise, I discovered that the plant proteins denatured at a higher

temperature than the animal proteins. The rice milk had an average denaturation temperature

of 91.7°C, followed by almond milk at 86.0°C and soy milk at 76.0°C. The animal milk proteins

denatured at lower average temperatures at 74.1°C for goat milk, 73.8°C for cow milk, and

72.0°C for human milk. In every milk that was tested, the denaturation temperature varied

from trial to trial, but did not vary far from each other. The lowest denaturation temperature

was found in the animal milks while the highest denaturation temperature was found in the

plant milk proteins which was different than predicted. I found this to be interesting evidence

that I can apply to how the body breaks down protein sources once consumed in the diet.

Category 4 – Chemistry

Where's your Coffee from? J-20

Jimmy Truong


White teeth are something everyone desires. People buy whitening strips all the time to get

flawless teeth. Instead of buying expensive products that only fix it temporarily, try tweaking

your diet to get pure white teeth. The experiment I conducted is about if the origin of coffee

affects the acidity of coffee. Coffee is known to make people’s teeth turn brown. With research,

I found out it's the acid or pH level of the coffee is what makes your teeth tint brown. I tested

five kinds of coffee of different origins to see if the origin of the coffee affected the pH level of

the coffee. I tested 5 coffees by brewing than in a drip brewer. Later, after they are finished

boiling they were set to cool down to room temperature. When, the liquids were totally room

temperature I used a pH test strip to measure the acidity of each coffee and recorded it. My

results concluded that coffee originating from France had the least acidic coffee. In conclusion

coffees of different origins do have different pH levels. This information can be used in many

ways. This could help coffee businesses open up to more customers by having a less acidic

options for coffee. This also helps our daily coffee drinker by opting for a less acidic coffee with

maybe dairy to further dilute the acid. Clearly, this experiment could contribute to the real

world.

The Clean Coin Catastrophe J-21

Olivia Ernst


I did my experiment to see what kind of liquid would clean of coins the best. My data can help

coin collectors keep their coins clean. The problem with dirty coins is that they have many

germs that can make people sick. If people clean them they can have less of a chance of getting

sick from dealing with dirty money. I tested to see what would clean coins the best and found

that baking soda did the greatest. People that work with money can now have cleaner money

to work with.

Dark pop vs. light pop J-22

Sydney Witte


MMMMM, soda pop! As a kid I always remember my mom telling me I could have a sprite

rather than a coke and I never knew why until now. All pops have nucleation sites in them but

because of the amount of carbon dioxide in darker colored pops they explode higher. once the

mentos is dropped in the compacted sugar is released (dissolved) and the air has no where to

go but up. Since lighter colored pops don't have as much carbon dioxide in them as to dark

colored pops, they don't explode as high. What makes them considered worse for you is the

fosporateparate and dyed coloring. My science fair project was intended to prove what type of

sodas are good and bad for your health and body, based on there reaction to mentos. In my

project I measured the height of the explosion with a meter stick in inches.The hypothesis to

my project was also wrong. My hypothesis was “if darker colored pops explode higher than

lighter colored pops with mentos they will be worse for your body.” The reason my hypothesis

was wrong was because the darker pops only explode higher because of the amount of carbon

dioxide in them. I think it's very important to have knowledge on this topic, so you can have a

general idea of what you're putting into your body everyday. If I could go back and change

anything on my project I would change the way I measured it. Instead of measuring how high

the pop exploded I would of measured how much pop had came out of the bottle. This

experiment also taught me the importance of knowing the dangers of` everything I put into my

body.

Stains Out J-23

Charli Coil


The question that I solved was, what detergent can get that stains out the best?There are many

things that you have to do to have a successful experiment like real world application,

procedure, results, and the problems with the experiment or things that could be better. One of

the things that made my project stand out was that I can apply it to real world and it can help a

lot of people. One of the real world application is that you should which to GAIN because it got

the stains out the best. And it is also cheaper the TIDE, which is what a lot of people use. Next,

for my procedure I stained 27 equal white squares with mustard, dorothy lynch, and ketchup.

After, I stains them I put one of each into the washing machine. Then after all of the squares

were washed I graded the stain with a scale that I found online. After following the procedure

the results came out shocking GAIN had the most success in getting the stains out. So, I reject

my hypothesis because I thought that TIDE would get the stains out the best. With most

experiment there is almost always something that could be better in my case I wasn't very

consistent with the same amount of time that it dried before I washed it. Although they were

all close to the same time so it didn’t tank the experiment. As you can see, to have a successful

experiment you need to have theses things.

Stains are a Pain J-24

Zachary Lewandowski


There was some key research and information obtained prior to conducting the experiment.

For example, one piece of information said that the phosphoric acid found in soft drinks is often

credited to staining teeth. More information that was found was that darker colored soft drinks

tend to have a larger role in staining teeth. The paper is attempting to explain which soda

cleans teeth the most.

The experiment was conducted by pouring 10 oz of the selected drink into a cup. Then, place

the egg into the cup. Let the egg sit for 20, 25,and 30 minutes depending on which trial is being

done.. Then, take the egg out and let it dry for 25, 30, and 35 minutes depending on which trial

is being done. Last, take pictures of the results.

In this experiment, some information was learned. The experiment conductor learned that red

Powerade stains a tooth the most. Red Powerade most likely stains teeth the most because it

has a lot of color (kind of dark color) in it. Another thing that was learned was that Mountain

Dew does the least amount of staining. Mountain Dew most likely does the least amount of

staining because it does not have much color in it.

Category 5 - Energy and Transportation

Evaluating the Differences in Fuel Efficiency With Various Fuel Types and Average Speeds J-25

Josi Sharp


How can people get the best gas mileage? Is there ways to ensure drivers get better fuel

mileage? Gas mileage is something people think about everyday. This experiment will test what

speed gets the best gas mileage and what drivers can do to get the best mileage. The

procedures taken to make this study happen are: 1. The driver will fill up with E85 fuel on a

weekly basis. 2. The driver will drive approximately 84 miles round trip to his place of

employment at the various speeds of 65 mph, 55 mph, and 45 mph with each tank of fuel, and

lastly the driver will record the data.

The results showed that the slower the car is driven the better gas mileage people will get.

Traveling at the speed of 45 miles per hour there was 31.6 miles per gallon, Traveling at 55

miles per hour there was 29 miles per gallon, and driving at the speed of 65 miles per hour the

miles per gallon was 28.8. The conclusions drawn from this experiment are that if people want

to get a better gas mileage they should drive at a slower rate rather than a faster rate.

Category 6 - Engineering: Electrical/Mechanical

The Sinking Experiment J-26

Jackson Graves


I got the idea for this experiment from our cabin. At our cabin we have kayaks, so I decided to

do my experiment on what adhesive is best for sealing a boat. Let’s say that you are 10-20 min

and your kayak gets a hole and you can’t get to shore. Another scenario that this in information

could be used in is if you get a hole in your above ground pool; you could use waterproof duct

tape so seal it and it would be much cheaper than a pool patch. The results of this experiment

timed how long a specific type of adhesive could prevent a boat from sinking. Nine different

type of adhesive were used. The adhesive that proved to be the strongest was Waterproof Duct

Tape with 1200 seconds. Two-five were Packing Tape, Duct Tape, Bubble Gum, and Painters

Tape. Rounding out the final four were; Masking Tape, Electrical Tape, Invisible Tape, and the

control. The waterproof duct tape was the only one that lasted the full 20 minutes and made it

back to shore and would be the one best for patching a pool. Because of the chemical makeup

of Waterproof Duct Tape and Packing Tape is why they placed 1st and 2nd. So if you are 20

minutes away from shore then you should have Waterproof Duct Tape. If I were to test this

again I would have a more buoyant boat. Information from my experiment may someday seal a

problematic hole or simply make smarter purchases.

Category 7 - Engineering: Materials/Bioengineering

The Champion of Tape J-27

Dylan Kalvelage


I did this originally to test how strong tape was. The problem I solved was how strong each tape

type was. I used a bucket, boards, and gravel to do the experiment. I obtained the answers

shown in my data table. I believe I met my objectives because I found out which tape was the

strongest.

Which Liquid Melts Ice the Slowest J-28

Lilliana Widhelm


I did this project because I wanted to know what liquid I would need to put ice in if I wanted it

to stay there. This project looks at what type of liquid would keep an ice cube cold enough to

stay solid. I put the ice into 4 different liquids (water, Gatorade, Pepsi, and fruit juice). The

experimental results supported my hypothesis by showing that the ice melted differently in

each one.

Grease it Out J-29

Cheylee Reed


Many people get grease on themselves and aren't able to get it off. My reason for conducting

this experiment was to find out what type of soap gets grease out of cloth best. In all the

research I did I found no reason to why the shampoo was the best out of the soaps and did

better than the dish soap (the dish soap was the one I thought was going to be the best). The

first thing I did in this experiment was get an old t-shirt and cut it up into 5 pieces. Then I put a

spoon full of grease onto each piece of cloth. I then let it sit for 2 min, then put a half spoon full

of each type of soap onto each cloth. Next I scrubbed each piece of cloth with a damp paper

towel for two minutes. When I was done with that I studied each piece of cloth to see which

was the cleanest. It was the shampoo and not the dish soap, so I rejected my hypothesis

because I was incorrect. Some challenges in conducting this experiment was measuring the

grease because of its thick consistency. Another is making sure that all the grease came off the

spoon, also cause of the consistency. So there might have been human error due to that. In the

end the shampoo was surprisingly the best type of soap and even though there might of been

human error the experiment went quite well.

The Impact Resistance of Different Types of Siding J-30

Eric Blythe


Siding is on almost all house the house that are in the united states. Siding is what is protecting

your house from the outside and the right siding could save you thousands of dollars if you pick

the right siding. Siding is also something that will give your house value and the appearance can

be ruined if you do not know what type of siding does what.It could be hard to find the right

type of siding to put on our how and siding shopping can be such a hassle when not knowing

the true values that siding has.People have always had a hard time choosing siding and this

experiment will hopefully b Surveys show the homeowners don’t always like the outcome of

the siding after a storm because their local contractor did not inform them what type of siding

was going to withstand different types of siding. When people are asked to choose a siding they

can sometimes be caught off guard because they never were educated on different types of

siding how different types of siding are better for other people in different region of the United

States. Siding can also be better in different parts of the house because hail damage is not able

to reach that certain part of the house and it will be undamaged be it my weather differently.

Siding also has a big risk in the installation process.

Category 8 - Environmental Management

Benefits of Biodegradable Straws J-31

Joanne Vuong


The purpose of my science project is to explain the risks of plastic straws and how

biodegradable alternatives are much better for the environment. Plastic consumption affects us

all, which includes animals, our planet, and future generations. Plastic plays a common role in

our lives, which is frightening considering how dangerous it is for the environment. The

question that my science experiment covered is “what type of biodegradable straw is the best

for the environment?” Since plastic consumption is becoming a big problem, I wanted to bring

awareness to biodegradable options. Investigating this problem is very crucial because it is

important to replace our plastic with biodegradable alternatives before it is too late. My

approach to investigating this problem was seeing how much different types of biodegradable

straws degrade over time. Since straws usually end up in the ground and in oceans, I wanted to

see how much they would break down in three months. With my biodegradable paper straws

degrading almost completely over this span, it is clear that biodegradable paper straws are the

best for the environment. The plant-based and cornstarch straws were not as effective since

they weren’t able to degrade that much. The most important variable was the plastic straw

because my data clearly indicated that they didn’t degrade whatsoever. My science project

contributes to plastic prevention and awareness to plastic consumption. I met my objectives by

explaining how devastating plastic can be for the environment and how biodegradable options

are accessible, available, and more eco-friendly.

Category 9 - Environmental Sciences

The Effects of Barley Straw Extract and Copper Sulfate on Algal Growth J-32

Elaina McHargue


Many people enjoy watching birds eat from their backyard feeders and drink from their bird

baths at home, which is why algal growth in birdbaths should concern us. Algae can make water

toxic for birds to drink, and dirty bird baths can lead to the spread of disease. This project tests

how effectively barley straw extract and copper sulfate inhibit algal growth when added to

water that already has algae growing in it. The hypothesis was that both solutions would inhibit

algal growth, but that copper sulfate would be more effective than barley straw extract. Barley

straw extract and copper sulfate were added to containers of water with three milliliters of

algae solution, and water samples were tested over the course of sixteen days.

Spectrophotometer tests were conducted to find light transmittance and absorbance, and

hemocytometer tests were conducted to find cell density. The hypothesis was partially

supported since copper sulfate was shown to be effective at inhibiting algal growth when algae

has already been introduced to the water, but it was also partially rejected since barley straw

extract was shown to be ineffective. The barley straw extract solution transmitted even less

light than the control. Research on inhibiting algal growth is important because we want to

protect the health of wildlife by providing them clean water to drink. Research of this type can

also be applied to livestock water tanks, pet water dishes, and our local lakes and ponds.

Water Quality J-33

Toby Kotinek & Krayton Kucera


What we did for our project was water quality in different locations. We would test for many

different things that are in the water. How we did that used a testing strip and put it in water

for 30 seconds. We would take it out and compare the colors to the colors on the bottle to see

the level of each thing in the water. We tested in 6 different places. We had to test each

location three times. Then we used a table on our computers to keep our data. After that, we

had to make graphs using the data collected. We had to put print the graphs and put them on

our poster board. Some challenges that came up during our presentation were getting to some

places but we did end up getting to those locations to test. We could also improve this project

by testing more places. We could also test for some more things in the water or even do more

tests on the locations that we did the test at.

The Ability to Remove Stuck on Stains with Various Removers J-34

Georgi tenBensel


In this science project, various removers were tested on different types of fabrics. Various

stains were used on the fabrics, then the removers were applied and the fabrics were put in the

washing machine. After the washing machine the fabrics were transferred over to the dryer to

dry. Then the fabrics were judged by how much the stain came off of the fabric. The hypothesis

was that the most expensive stain remover would work the best. Some thought that the color

might changed from the fabric with the extra stain remover. The stains might not fully come

out, but it would be a lot better than having a big stain on the side of the shirt while the subject

is working out on the farm. The Espreso Sports Cleaner was the best stain remover for each of

the fabrics, but each of the removers had their own part in each of the fabrics.

The Efficiency of Various Cleaning Agents on Glass J-35

Reagan Rust


This science fair project is to help know what window cleaner works better out of the five top

ranked cleaners. For this project five different types of cleaners are going to be tested to see

what cleans windows better, there will be dirt on the windows for the first cleaning and for the

second it will be oil and fingerprints. It is believed that either the homemade solution or

Windex is best, out of all the research Windex is told to be the best cleaner. This project is

important because why spend all that money on window cleaner that doesn’t work. This will

impact lives by showing what window cleaners work the best so people can save money. What

is interesting about this project is that most people have windows in their houses and most

people clean their windows so this can help them figure out what window cleaner to use.

Windex got six out of ten votes on cleaning the dirt and seven out of ten on oil and fingerprints.

The outcome of this project is that Windex is the best cleaner.

Category 10 - Medicine and Health Sciences

Does Prednisone Cause a Decrease in the Body Length Through Generations of Drosophila

melanogaster? J-36 Jenna Cecrle

Adams Central, Jay Cecrle

Due to my Asthma I had to take Prednisone, an oral corticosteroid, that is used to reduce the

Inflammation in my airways.During my 7th grade physical last year, my doctor noticed my growth rate

had decreased from the 50th percentile to the 25th percentile. She suggested this may be due to the

number of times I was prescribed prednisone the previous year. I wondered if this could be shown in an

animal model. I selected the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) because the generation time is quick,

they are easy to raise, and the prednisone can be mixed with the food ensuring that fruit fly larvae

ingest the medication during their development. I discovered that as the dose of prednisone increased,

the body length decreased. The project has been expanded to determine if this change can be passed

onto future generations. Drosophila were cultured on different amounts of prednisone mixed in their

food. The offspring of those flies exposed to prednisone were then bred to fruit flies that had not been

exposed to determine if the change in body length could be passed on.

The Effects of Exercise on Lung Capacity J-37

Josh Truong


Lung capacity is the amount of oxygen that someone can hold in his or her lungs. The purpose

of this experiment is to see if athletes or non-athletes have better lung capacity. My hypothesis

is that if someone is an athlete, then he or she will have a better lung capacity than someone

who is non-athletic. To do this experiment, participants blew one breath into a balloon. The

length of the balloon was measured. It was found that athletes have better lung capacity

because their balloon’s lengths were about 1 inch longer than the balloons of the non-athletes.

This experiment showed that regular exercise performed by the athletes resulted in having

better lung capacity, proving my hypothesis correct.

Active Gaming J-38

Jaymeson Hamburger


I chose this experiment because I wanted to know if gaming was technically a “lazy” sport. My

experiment was meant to show that gaming is or isn’t lazy. The problem I solved was showing

people that gaming is just like any other sport. The approach for this was testing my heart rate

and using a caloric equation to see how many calories I burned just playing a game and staring

at a T.V. The answer I obtained was that it really isn’t being lazy at all. Kids play them and

parents hate them, but their kids are burning calories while playing. This affects me because I

am a gamer, someone who plays this “lazy” sport.

Does an energy drink make you run faster? J-39

Brendan Story


The purpose for doing this experiment was to see if drinking an energy drink would help

someone run faster. This experiment could also help people run races or marathons and that is

also why I wanted to do this experiment. My hypothesis in this experiment was if you drink an

energy drink before you run you will run faster in a 100 meter race. But I reject my hypothesis

because it is not true that you run that much faster. The energy drink only made me run .6

seconds faster

Which type of sugar makes your 40 meter dash faster J-40

Cohen Heil


The purpose for doing this experiment is to see if sugars make you run faster or react faster in

any kind of way and wich sugar. This project can help many like track runners or running backs

before they go out onto the field. The hypothesis investigated was “If I eat different types of

sugar before I run, then one of them will make my 40 meter dash faster.” The hypothesis was

proven true and certain types of sugars do make you run faster. The prodseizure was a lot of

running and eating.In the experiment with any type of sugar the runners 40 meter dash was

faster by at least 0.1 seconds. Without the sugar the range of my time was 7.067 seconds . The

slowest range the runners ran with any sugar added was 6.93 seconds and that was with honey

. The time was improved by .15 seconds . The fastest range the runner ran with sugar added

was 6.65 that was with the apple and the snickers bar. The time increased with that was 0.417.

The time in between the slowest sugar and the fastest sugar was 0.267 seconds. When the

runner ran with just strait sugar the time was 6.88

Blood Sugar: The Highs and Lows J-41

Sarah Diaz


Blood Glucose Levels are a factor very little vegetarians take into consideration when deciding

on their dietary health. But if taken into consideration, this could benefit vegetarians and

omnivores alike. A look into blood sugar’s dependency on diet could also help diabetics and

other blood sugar related chronic diseases. The results of this experiment in turn could benefit

the health care workers whose job is the well being of their patients. These results were found

by testing the blood sugar levels from two weeks of different diets. A week of vegetarian eating

was recorded and blood sugar levels were measured daily. The following week of omnivorous

dietary habits were recorded and those blood sugar levels were tested daily as well. The

average blood sugar level of the meat week was 100.57 mg/dL and the average of the

vegetarian week was 104.42 mg/dL. My hypothesis stated that the week with meat would have

the higher average blood sugar level and that the vegetarian week would be much lower. This

was wrong because the vegetarian week had the higher average, if by a few points. The reason

the vegetarian week was higher was because of the carbohydrates I was substituting for the

lack of protein in my diet. The numbers of the meat week were close because of the long term

red meat consumption and the fats that meat contains. The results this experiment produced

could be more accurate if conducted a second time. The experiment could have longer trials,

more people tested, and a consistent amount of time for the food to be absorbed into the

bloodstream. These simple fixes could exponentially increase the accuracy of the results.

Cardio Exercise J-42

Ian Waite


My experiment was if I ran for 5 minutes, then my heart rate would be faster than if I ran for 1

minute. A way to use this information in real life would be making sure your healthy enough to

start exercising. If you start doing tough exercise without consulting your doctor first there is a

possibility that you could have a heart disease and not know then you could have a heart

attack. My research also found out how to calculate a safe heart rate for running. The way to

calculate a “maximum” heart rate is to take your age and subtract it from 220. During aerobic

exercise the heart beats faster so it can deliver the blood needed to the muscles therefore

consuming more oxygen. For my experiment I started by resting to take my resting heart rate

before each run to use as a control. Then I set a timer for my run. After my run I took my heart

rate and compared it to my resting heart rate and my previous runs. I found that I accept my

hypothesis. For my trial one results, when I ran for one minute, my average was 133. My trial

two results, when I ran for three minutes, my average was 128. My trial three results, when I

ran for five minutes, my average was 144. All of these averages were higher than my resting

heart rates for each trial. Trial one for resting was 120, trial two was 97 and trial three was 85. I

also found that my trial three average was higher than my trial one average showing my

hypothesis to be true. A running trend I found in my results was if my heart rate started lower

while resting than other trials then my running heart rate would be faster than other trials. I

also found the the longer I ran the more the gap between my resting heart rate and my running

heart rate would grow. For example my trial one for both graphs are very close to each other.

My second trial the heart rates were starting to pull away from each other. Then during my

third and final experiment was my biggest gap averaging 85 bpm for resting and 144 bpm for

running. A challenge in my experiment was keeping track of all my data. A human error in my

experiment is on one of my trials I forgot to record my data and didn’t redo it until later.

Sugary drinks affect on tooth enamel J-43

Avery Sorgenfrei


The purpose of my experiment is to better understand how certain drinks with a lot of sugars

will affect your tooth enamel. This experiment uses eggs to represent your tooth enamel. Your

tooth enamel is made up of calcium just like the shell of an egg that's why the sugars have the

same effects on the eggshells as your enamel. This experiment can help people better

understand what the sugars they are drinking are doing to their teeth. I put one egg in four

different glasses each containing a different drink. The drinks I used were Dr. pepper, grape

powerade, Barq’s root beer, and water. I let the eggs soak over a course time of 24 hours

checking them every few hours and monitoring their change. The eggs in the Dr. pepper and

root beer turned light brown colors and grew darker spots. The Dr.pepper egg grew spots the

fastest and had the most along with a small crack running down the side of the egg. The

powerade egg started out being a purply color and in the end turned to a purplish gray. The egg

in the water remained the same. By the end of the experiment I accept my hypothesis that if

eggs are put in sugary drinks then they will decay like tooth enamel would. I accept it because

the eggshells and tooth enamel are made up of some of the same things so the sugars and acids

in the drinks affected the eggs the same. I think my experiment would benefit a lot of people

especially the people who are looking to make a change in the things they drink or the people

who don't want to ruin their teeth.

Taste Vs. Smell J-44

Raena Northrup


The purpose of this experiment is to better understand the connection between our sensory

organs and our brains; how they all work together to perform everyday tasks. Everyone could

benefit from this information. You can probably recall a time where you were sick and couldn’t

taste your favorite meals. This is the science behind it. The next step in this investigation would

be doing another experiment because having more data would increase the validity of the

results. Doing multiple experiments and comparing the data to use later on would be the best

option, just because you would get the most accurate conclusion. First I prepared the foods for

consumption. Then I blindfolded the participants and plugged their nose. Next, I gave the

participants the foods and they consumed them. Then, I unplugged their noses and gave the

participants the same foods. I recorded the data and put it into graphs and tables. Participant

one got The same amount correct and incorrect on both of the trials. Participant two got four

out of five correct on trial one and five out of five correct on trial two. Participant three got a

significantly higher amount correct on trial two than on trial one. This shows that my

hypothesis was correct but it does not prove completely, because it is one bit of evidence. The

average for the total correct guesses on trial one is significantly lower than trial two. The

averages in the foods are also pretty similar. The averages show that my hypothesis was, in

fact, correct, but there was a lot of human error. Some challenges I faced were trusting the

participants to keep their noses plugged. Another challenge was getting the participants to

trust that I wasn’t poisoning them.

Its all in your head J-45

Rachel Rowe


The placebo effect is all in your head. The more you expect it to work, the more likely you will

have a response. If you wake up from not getting much sleep thinking you had a great sleep,

your brain will make you think you really did. If a patient thinks they have something wrong

with them and they really don’t, a doctor can give them a placebo and they may think they’re

better. In my experiment, I gave five people strips of flavored paper they believed would make

their tongue start to tingle. I tested everyone separately and told them all the same thing. We

were also in a quiet place with no other distractions. I waited 5 to 7 minutes to see if they

would feel the effect. Of the five people I tested 60% of them felt the placebo effect. My

hypothesis was if I give middle school students a flavored piece of paper and tell them their

tongue will tingle, then more than half of them would experience the effect. I accept my

hypothesis because my percent was more than half. I had some human error and some

challenges. I should have tested more people to make my results more accurate. The challenges

I faced was at first when I knew I wanted to test the placebo effect, I didn’t know how I wanted

to carry out the experiment. I thought about having a sugar pill and saying it will make them

itch, but I decided to use a paper we used in seventh grade.

Stress, Sleep, and Dreams J-46

Desiree Rousseau


One of the biggest questions I have had for myself is “How does stress affect my dream type?”.

We have about 4-6 dreams a night. We only dream in deep sleep or REM sleep and depending

on where we wake up in this cycle, we can recall having one. Dreams and sleep are extremely

flimsy from person to person and everyone has a different experience. Some people constantly

have nightmares while others never remember having dreams. The purpose of this experiment

was to see where I fall in this spectrum. I thought if I have a stressful day, then I will have a bad

dream. To test this I recorded the amount of stress I had that day, how long it took for me to

fall asleep, my sleep patterns throughout the night, and if I remember having a dream, what

type it was. I found that on stressful days I do not recall any dreams and sleep very lightly. On

normal days without stress, I have a dream about school and sleep soundly. On moderately

stressful days I have a foggy dream and sleep lightly. On average I get 6 and a half hours of

sleep every night. This shows that instead of having a bad dream I don’t remember one at all on

stressful days. This experiment helped me find ways that I can easily fall asleep and helped me

understand more about how my body works.

Soda Pop J-47 Camila Martinez Zapata


Sometimes we don’t realize the damage that we do to our bodies every time we put something in our

mouths. If you drink too much pop, then all of the sugar that is in it will help your body in a negative

way. Soda pop can be a deadly drink. Sometimes by explaining to people and showing them what can

such a normal thing can do their body, can even change their mind and they might even stop doing

what's making their body bad. Soda pop is a really dangerous drink for your system. Soda pop can even

cause some pretty bad diseases, it can even lead to death. “According to a study from tufts university,

sugary drinks including our beloved soda pops and fruit juices kill an astounding number of people

around the world every year. Up to 184,000, in fact.”(Sam Becker).

Everyone should start thinking about their health first then their satisfaction. In order to prove this

theory I decided to do some research about what can soda pop do to a person's body, and to also do a

little experiment about soda pop. For my experiment for soda pop. First, I choose the most popular soda

pops that I know people drink the most and are the most populars. The soda pops that I chose were

Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Root Beer, Fanta, Sprite, and Mtn. Dew (12 oz can each). Second, for every

soda pop I went into the nutrition bar and search for the total of sugars. The total of sugars were in

grams, So I divided the total of sugars by 4, I divided by 4 because each 4 grams equals to 1 teaspoon.

Third, I put my results of sugar ,that I got, in a little ziploc bag, for each one. Next, once I got my results

and put them in the ziploc bag, and I compared them. Next to prove that soda pop is really bad for you I

boiled 1 soda pop, which was Coca-Cola. For the boiling part. First, I got my materials which were a pan,

1 spoon, ziploc bag, stove, and the soda pop that I was going to use, which was Coca-Cola. Second I

turned on the stove and I chose the fire to be in the middle, not too low but not too high. Once I turned

on the stove and choose how I wanted the fire I put the pan in there, and preheated it. Third once the

pan was pre-heated I chose the soda pop, which was Coca-Cola. I opened the can and poured the drink

into the pan. Next I left the drink in there but I was also looking at it and I was moving it around with the

spoon so the consistency wouldn't stick to the pan. Next after approximately 15 minutes the Coca-Cola

started to boil and it also started to stick to the pan, it was pretty hot too so if your doing this

experiment too you should be really careful when you are doing this. Next the Coca-Cola started to

shrink ,I guess, and it was getting really sticky. After that I noticed that the Coca-Cola wasn’t the Coca-

Cola anymore what was left was just a consistency that was black and sticky that looked like some type

of caramel, that caramel is the sugar. Finally once I got the caramel consistency, I took all of the

consistency out of the pan and put it in a ziploc bag and then I closed it, then you are done. When I

placed the caramel in the ziploc bag the caramel cooled down and it turned really hard. In my opinion I

think that, that black consistency is what the Coca-Cola and all of the other pops turn into, when they

enter your body. I also believe that, that constincey can stick to your bones, and that's why people who

are literally addicted have some rotten teeth and bones which are in a bad condition. I accept my

hypothesis because with my research and my experiment it showed that soda pop is a deadly drink. I

didn’t really have any challenges, but if I was able to do this experiment again I would've boiled all of the

Soda pops , and not just one.

Antacid to the Rescue J-48

Aspyn Wick


Antacids are a type of medication that supply relief for stomach aches or heartburn. Heartburn

is caused by acid reflux, which is when stomach acid escapes the stomach and moves up the

esophagus. Antacids work by raising the pH level of the acid that has escaped. They don’t raise

it all the way to a neutral seven, but usually, a few levels will ease discomfort.

To begin the procedure, mix for every one part acid nine parts water with 17.4 grams of sodium

chloride and shake it up. This should come to an average ph of around 2.87. After that, put 3.9

grams of crushed Tums tablets into the solution, shake it up, and measure the new pH. Repeat

this with Rolaids, Mylanta, and Milk of Magnesia three times each.

In this experiment it was learned that in the case of heartburn, Tums are the best to relieve the

burning sensation because they are very concentrated. It is believed that this took place

because they had the highest concentration of calcium carbonate at 750 mg per tablet while

Rolaids only had 675 mg per tablet. Because the liquid antacids were not as concentrated, it

took larger amounts to get the full effect; they did not do as well since the amounts of each

medication had to be the same. Milk of Magnesia and Mylanta had more active ingredients but

were not as concentrated so they did not do as well.

The Effects of Various Nutritional Products on Heart Rate in Humans J-49

Alexis Wengler


Mt. Dew, water, and even apples are something people eat and drink everyday. People don’t

even think about their heart rate when they are eating these foods. The question being asked in

this project is will certain foods affect a person’s heart rate. The foods and drinks being used in

this project are Mt. Dew, water, apple, and Snickers. The things tested in this project are the

person’s heart rate before consuming the food, 15 seconds after consuming the food, and 2

minutes after consuming the food. The foods people eat can significantly affect people’s heart

rate. There are certain foods that will raise or drop people’s heart rate. This experiment was

used to see if certain foods with acid and some without would raise or drop a person’s heart

rate significantly. Foods with acid, caffeine, and carbonation tend to make people’s heart rate

rise or fall extremely. The average heart rate is between 60 and 100. The results show that

foods or drinks with acid and or carbonation tend to make a person’s heart rate either

significantly drop or raise it. A person’s heart rate doesn’t always depend on the age of a

person, it depends on the food they eat and also the ingredients or what’s in the food they eat.

Evaluating the Effects of Continuous Glucose Monitors on A1C Values on Diabetes Patients J-50

Samantha Bonifas


Diabetes is a common disease that more than 100 million Americans are living with. It affects a

person’s amount of insulin produce which will then affect their blood sugar levels and cause

blurred vision, nausea, frequent urination, fatigue, and many other unpleasant symptoms. To

better control the disease, some patients use a device called a continuous glucose monitor

(CGM). A CGM is installed under the skin where it will continuously monitor glucose levels. To

calibrate it, the user has to enter finger-stick checks into the system. CGM’s can operate within

an app on a smartphone and notify the user when his/her glucose level is hazardously high or

low. Because of the idea that a CGM makes it easier to handle diabetes, the hypothesis of this

experiment is that people with CGM’s will have a lower A1C than people without CGM’s. To

conduct this experiment, a survey was conducted on Facebook and a collaboration with the

Mary Lanning diabetes clinic was started. Through the survey 58 anonymous subjects were

asked to submit their age, gender, type of diabetes, diagnosis date, if they had a CGM or not,

type of CGM, their A1C at diagnosis, and their most recent A1C. Through the collaboration with

the Mary Lanning diabetes center, 20 random subjects with type 1 diabetes and a CGM and

their age, gender, diagnosis date, type of CGM, A1C before CGM, and A1C after CGM were

reviewed. It was significantly shown that over time a subject’s A1C decreases with a CGM.

Evaluating What Time of Day Affects an Athlete the Most J-51

Cody Pankoke


There are millions of athletes in the world whether it is professional sports or college sports or

even high school sports. The schedules are at so many times either play football under the

friday night lights or basketball which some games are played in the mourning and even track

meets in the afternoon but some people don’t perform the way they should at these different

times. Some people are mourning people or maybe evening people. Because of this they either

have a off day or can’t sprint as fast or jump as high which causes stress to some athletes but

this science fair project can’t change schedules or make you more athletic but practicing and

putting repetitions in at the time of day you perform the best can make you better at what your

are trying to do for instance like trying to dunk a basketball or be one of the fastest at a track

meet or juking a jiving in a football game. It all comes together when putting in the work when

you’re are performing the best. So when I took all the test to it is proven that athletes did the

best in the afternoon than any other part of the day.

A Comparison of Made Shot Percentage When Using the Backboard and When Using Only the

Net J-52

Keaton Karr


Basketball is one of the most popular sports in not just the United States, but in the world.

There are some scientists that have already attempted this experiment. Larry Silverberg who is

from North Carolina University ran a experiment where over one million shots were tested. The

hypothesis is that people are more likely to make a basket using the backboard if they are close

to the basket but, the farther they move away from the hoop the more likely they are to make

it if they try to swish it. The experimental design is the test subjects will be tested by shooting

five shots from ten different position on the court. The results proved that using the backboard

will increase your chance of making a basket but, if you are shooting a three pointer or a

freethrow you are more likely to to make it without using the backboard for both males and

females. The conclusion is that you are more likely to make a basket by using the backboard for

both males and females.

The Overall Quality of Gluten Free Noodles J-53

Ashley Bonifas


Many people have to eat gluten free or want to eat gluten free for a diet. Gluten is a protein

found in wheat, barley, and rye. This has been hypothesized that that the Ronzoni rotini gluten

free noodles will hold their consistency best when cooked at the minimum time the package

says to do. This experiment was done because there are many people in the world today that

would find this useful. First, the same weight of each type of noodle was tested. Next, the

noodles were cooked to the minimum required amount according to what the package stated.

Next, part of the noodles rested in a bowl for the same amount of time each minute of five

testing the clumpiness of them, if they fell apart after five minutes, al dente, appearance, and

taste were all tested. Then, there was an overall ranking scored on each type of noodle based

on what was being tested. Take the same weight of each type of noodle that is being tested.

Lastly, four judges anonymously taste tested and judged each type and brand of noodle. The

results of it were that Barilla noodles had the highest average out of all the tested results.

Determining Which Microwavable Popcorn has the Best Kernel Popping Percentage J-54

Brayden Hemberger


Popcorn is 100 percent whole grain. There was 218,461 acres harvested in 2012. High quality

popcorn has 13.5 percent if moisture. Popcorn production totaled at 785.7 million pounds.

Nebraska is the most popcorn producing state in America. It has 353.7 million pounds of shelled

popcorn or 44 percent of all popcorn production in America. There are 3 other top producing

states in America. The highest quality popcorn has at least 98% popping ratio in the microwave.

The project is about five brands of popcorn. The Average of Unpopped Kernels and Unpopped

Kernels trial 1, 2, 3. Then the price of found for each brand of popcorn. This project took a lot of

time. The conclusion was that Buttery Explosion popped the most.

Why you need a knee cap J-55

Cara Bunger


My name is Cara Bunger and I investigated why you need your kneecap. I chose to investigate

this is by building a model of a leg and a kneecap, in which I used a tape ball for your kneecap

and wooden paint sticks for your legs and a stretchy bracelet for your tendons. Then I removed

the ball of tape (kneecap) and saw how it would work. Then I discovered that without your

kneecap you could tear your tendon because your muscles would pull too hard. In conclusion

without your kneecap you could have to undergo major surgery to fix your leg so that the pain

is not unbearable. You can walk without a kneecap. Your kneecap, known as the patella, is a

small bone that protects your knee joint. In those cases, though, surgeons do not create or

install kneecap prostheses—because you can walk without a kneecap. Kneeling, however, may

be a challenge without one, requiring protective gear. What is the purpose of a knee cap?

Function. The primary functional role of the patella is knee extension. The patella increases the

leverage that the quadriceps tendon can exert on the femur by increasing the angle at which it

acts. The patella is attached to the tendon of the quadriceps femoris muscle, which contracts to

extend/straighten the knee.

Category 11 - Microbiology

The Frequency of Bacteria That Grows on Makeup Brushes J-56

Olivia Washington


In this experiment, I took samples of bacteria from clean and dirty makeup brushes to find how

much bacteria grows on makeup brushes in general. The significance of this experiment is that

if you use makeup regularly, it’s important to keep your makeup applicators clean, if possible,

to keep the bacteria at bay and keep illnesses from spreading to other people or giving you one.

Not washing or sharing applicators can give sores, styes, mono (the kissing disease, gives

extreme fatigue over multiple week-long periods), acne, pink eye, and more. The question I

asked was, “What is the frequency of bacteria that grows on makeup brushes?” My approach in

investigating this question was simple: extract samples of bacteria using Q-tips on the 12

brushes I used in this experiment and put the samples in agar (bacteria food) and wait. After

waiting a few weeks, the bacteria was ready for counting and the results were surprising. Out of

the 12 brushes I tested, 11 averaged over 25 spores per sector. My first control brush had an

average of 40.5 spores per sector (ew), and it really bears out the need to wash brand new

brushes even though they’re new. My 10th used brush had the highest average: 53 spores per

sector. This experiment contributes to makeup artists all around the world. It’s never safe to

buy used makeup (trust me it’s out there) or share makeup because of the abnormalities you

can develop from the bacteria. Clean your brushes regularly and don’t share brushes without

washing them beforehand and afterward.

Dirty Mouth? J-57

Georgia Ramsey


My name is Georgia Ramsey, and my project was to collect samples from mouths of different

exotic pets a person may own to find out which pet carried the most bacteria in their mouth. I

hypothesized that snakes would have the most bacteria in them because they are constantly

using their tongue to feel around their surroundings. I tested this hypothesis by using sterile

swabs to wipe the inside of the mouths of exotic creatures which I obtained from the college at

Curtis. I then rolled the swabs onto petri dishes. I placed them in the incubator to grow the

bacteria. After two weeks I will be able to identify the bacteria that has grown on each dish.

Although, I have not concluded this experiment yet, I know that in order for this investigation to

carry the most weight I would need to test a variety of exotic animals in a variety of locations. If

I had unlimited funds and unlimited time, this is an idea I would love to entertain because I had

so much fun seeing all the animals and learning about them as well. I think I am a newly found

snake lover.

Category 12 - Physics and Astronomy

Yeet it! Skeet it! J-58

Nathaniel Heins


I chose this project because in trap shooting we commonly dispute what size shell to use: ⅞, 1,

or1⅛ oz. I tested all of these shells from three common distances: 30, 34, and 38 yards. I

predicted ⅞ oz shells would minimize outliers at all three distances; I also predicted 1oz shells

would have the most amount of bbs inside the circle at all distances. First I marked all three

distances at the local gun range. I hung a cardboard sheet marked with a black dot about the

size of a clay target. I shot three times from 30 yards then moved back incrementally until

completing the 38-yard shots. I collected my results by laying a 30-inch diameter circle on each

target and counted number of shots within the circle and the outliers. My results suggest ⅞oz

shells were effective for minimizing outliers at the shortest and longest distance but not at

middle distance. Additionally, even though it did not have the most inside the circle for two of

the three distances, 1oz was effective at the longest distance. I approved my hypothesis that ⅞

oz shells did minimize outliers, and I rejected my prediction that 1oz shells maximized amounts

inside of the circle, so I would use ⅞ oz shells at shorter- to medium-range distances and I

would only use 1oz for long range. In the future I would like to test if the feet per second of the

shot affects spread pattern at these same distances.

How Far Paper Airplanes Fly J-59

Lorelei Thiele


My reason for doing this project was to understand the aerodynamics of different paper

airplanes. Not many people would care for a project about paper airplanes. But maybe a

curious grade schooler would want to know what paper airplane to make, so that they could

possibly win a distance competition. My hypothesis was if I test different airplane folds, then

the original will fly the farthest because it doesn’t have any major changes to its design. My

initial project question though, was what paper airplane design can fly the farthest. My

approach to this question was to test five different designs to see which would fly the furthest.

The different test planes were the Jet, the Silk , the narrow Glider, the wide Glider, and the

Original. The plane that flew the farthest was the Jet with a 5.138 meter average. The plane

that flew the shortest distance was the Original with a 2.254 meter average. After the

experiment was completed, and I calculated the averages, and the Jet was the top flying plane.

My hypothesis was inaccurate but it was just a prediction. My research question was answered

though, and that’s what I really was trying to figure out.

Does air pressure affect how a basketball bounces? J-60

Gauge Tinsman


Air pressure affects a basketballs bounce in multiple ways, and sometimes those ways can be

positive and negative during key points of a game. We compared three different basketballs all

with different PSI in them. The data we collected from the tests consisted of two different

sections: Air pressure and how much was applied or released, and how high the basketball

ended up bouncing. All of the collected data was analyzed and put into an average. In total ball

1 had 6.5 of psi with 19.3 inches, ball 2 had 7.0 of psi with 24 inches, and ball 3 with 7.7 psi and

27.3 inches. In total ball 3 had the most air pressure thus resulting it to bounce the highest.

Another thing we observed could have been the type of floor could affect how high the ball

bounced even at different position of the floor as well. We also thought the type of ball could

be an effect on the results because each basketball now days have different purposes, whether

its an outdoor ball, indoor ball, or an all purpose ball.The results we found indicated the more

air pressure added to the ball the higher it bounced. Given the air pressure of one ball was an

index to find how much to add or take away psi to the other balls. It is necessary to know how

much air pressure is inside of your basketball, and know the impact it has on your ball during a

game.

Basketball..... a pressure sport J-61

Emma Synek


If I had to apply the project to the real world, it would be when you are in need of working on

free throws used the high air pressured ball. Also if you were in a game, and got fouled, you

would want the low pressure ball because it had the highest percentage of going in. However,

my procedure is simple. I started with the ball with the least amount of pressure, and then each

person would get 5 warm ups if they wanted it, then shoot 20 free throws. The ball with the

least amount of pressure was 3.5 lbs. I added more air to the ball to get it to 8 lbs. and repeated

the same steps. Next I added more air so it was 12 lbs. and repeated the steps again. Then I

took the data and put it into a graph within the percentages. My hypothesis was, if I took a

basketball and changed the pressure of each of them, then the ball with the lowest amount of

pressure would have the highest percentage. I accept my hypothesis, because the ball with

least amount had the highest percentage. I had some challenges in my experiment. To begin

with it was hard to mark the results while they are shooting, but that's all of the challenge,

actually I had another it was getting the contestants to actually do it. Other than all of that I had

a lot of fun doing this. Sure I had some challenges, but over all my data was close to the

standard deviation.

Interactive Metronome J-62

Liz Weseman


The purpose of this experiment was to understand if using the Interactive Metronome (IM),

provides assessment and training that improves neurotiming or synchronization of neural

impulses within the brain networks for cognitive, communicative, sensory and motor

performance, would increase my reading rate and therefore my reading fluency. I became

interested in this topic after reading a research article that looked at 64 typically developing

children investigated the existence of synchronization ability and literacy skills. I had utilized the

IM when undergoing speech therapy for paradoxical vocal cord dysfunction (PVCD) for

increasing sequencing of my respirations. Utilizing the IM assisted me in regaining control of my

respirations and reduce my PVCD events. I also am an average reader and after reading the

current research and knowing what impact it had on my PVCD inspired me to complete this

research study. My hypothesis was by using the IM then my reading rate will increase. I based

my hypothesis that by utilizing the IM for a short duration prior to reading a different passage

per trial my reading rate would increase. My independent variable was the IM and my

dependent variable was my reading rate. I did not find any difficulties controlling my variables

during this study. I found when completing the same duration on the IM and then reading for

one minute with an unfamiliar reading passage demonstrated a consistent gain in number of

words read for each trial. Following completion of this study I believe there is benefit in using

IM to increase reading rate. In future projects I would like to not only want to explore reading

rate but also reading comprehension.

Golf J-63

Anna Brant


Golf has always been an important part of my life. I have played with my dad since I was six. I

always want to hit the ball the furthest, so it caused me to test which brand of golf ball would

fly the furthest? To test this accurately, I needed to have a constant swing pushing the same

force on each ball. So, I designed and built a machine that would hit each golf ball with a

constant swing. I used the base of an old basketball hoop, welded a base cap and a swing arm

attachment onto the base. The final step was adding, the full swing arm with a driver. This

machine was able to hit all the balls with the same force and direction. I tested several types of

golf balls and agree with my hypothesis that a higher quality ball will travel further than a

poorly designed one. Overall, the only challenge in this experiment was designing and building

the machine itself. Personally, I think this experiment was a success because out which balls

would travel the furthest and will be able to use this information for my golfing career.

Category 13 - Plant Sciences

Does Caffeine Really Stunt Growth? J-64

Logan Brooks


Something most people want with their plants is for them to grow bigger, and for them to be

healthier. The purpose of this experiment was to see if coffee, more specifically coffee grounds,

helped plant growth in a positive way.Some way for people to benefit from this information is if

they want to get a higher production out of their garden, or are just looking for a way to have

healthier plants. In order to investigate this experiment, I got two plants of the same species,

poinsettias, and put them in the same environment. I gave one of the poinsettias half a cup of

just water, and another plant half a cup of water and a tablespoon of coffee grounds. Both

plants were watered and one was given coffee grounds for four weeks. What I found with my

data is that although shorter at the start by 1 centimeter, the poinsettia receiving coffee

grounds and water was, at the end of the experiment, 0.3 centimeters taller than the plant only

receiving water. Based off of this data, the plant receiving the treatment ended up proving the

hypothesis right. An error found after conducting the experiment was that both plants were

watered too much. If this experiment were to be conducted again, less water would be given to

both plants so the data could be more accurate.

Plants and Crystals J-65

Michaela Oeltjen


My objective in experiment this was to see what crystals can do to the growth of plants, it

showed that they help the growth and health of the plants. I tested my plants for about a week

watching them grow, recording all of my progress of the plants. I took my materials and made

my experiment out of plants and used the proper materials to do so. The control of the project

grew differently than the one with crystals. They were also grew at there best rates because I

kept them inside instead of the harsh environments of winter outside of my house. If i did keep

them outside, they would have died in a count of hours or minutes being out in the cold. Many

things could have went wrong, and I am lucky that nothing bad came across my way during this

project. I had no weird behavior or any big concerns with my plants, I took care of them

properly and with care. If there were anything I would have did differently, I would have did it

in the summer when it is warmer outside, instead of having them inside because they didn’t get

any sunlight to help them grow. I decided that I wanted to do this project because I haven’t

seen anyone do any project like this, therefore making it unique in its own way. I wanted to give

it a go, and it was my best shot a project like this because I basically had most of the supplies at

home.

Tootie Fruity J-66 Kaia Johnson


This experiment questioned if fruits rotted faster, for a specific amount of time, paired together with

certain other fruits in a confined space. The fruits that were chosen were avocados, bananas, and

tomatoes because they are all fruits that emit high levels of ethylene, which were needed for the

experiment.

To start off the experiment, the fruits were placed on plates in large ziploc bags. They were sorted into 3

different combinations, and in 3 other bags, the fruits were left by themselves to represent how the

fruits rotted when they weren’t paired with other fruit. Those fruits were then left to sit in the bags until

the the span of 3 weeks had passed. During those three weeks, the fruits were checked on daily based

on their firmness, color and smell.

After the experiment was done, the results showed that the banana and avocado pairing rotted first and

the tomato and avocado pairing rotted second. However the other pairing of banana and tomato didn’t

rot all the way and this is because the tomato rotted while the banana did not. The overall ranking for

which fruit rotted first to last was as the following: banana and tomato, the avocado, the banana, and

tomato and avocado. For the solo fruit tomato and a the pairing of banana and tomato, in both cases,

the tomato ended up not rotting even the banana did.

The Effects of Soil Type on Aronia Berry(Black Chokeberry) Growth J-67

Morgan Dinkler


Aronia berries are very important to our society today, because the berry is so healthy and it

can help people in many different ways. Aronia berries are very substantial and important.

There are millions of aronia berries produced in just one year. In this project the aronia berries

and the soil type were collected then sent to a lab. This was done once for each field. The

hypothesis was that the soil type would affect the sugar content of the berries. The types of

soils did not affect the bricks of the aronia berry. The hypothesis in this project turned out to be

wrong.

The Effects of Soil Types on Green Bean (Phaseolus Vulgaris) Growth J-68

Madison Karr


The question for this project is “What is the effect of different types of soil on green bean

growth?”. The hypothesis that was come to after researching this project is that the green

beans will have a better quality if grown in dirt. This project was tested by growing the green

beans in three of every soil type to find an average. The three soil types that the green beans

were tested in was manure, dirt, and potting soil. The plants were watered every other day. The

results were recorded and used to get the result. The result of this project was that the

hypothesis was correct, the green beans grew better in dirt.

Category 1 - Animal Sciences

The Effects of Sugar vs Artificial Sweeteners on Drosophila melanogaster Health and S-1

Reproduction

Leif Spady & Gabe Conant

Adams Central, Sandy Kliewer

We are testing the effects of artificial sweeteners vs sugars on Drosophila melanogaster.

Because these two products are used every day, we want to do research and find out which

one is better for your health. We will be testing this based on the reproduction rate and health

between the fruit flies. We hypothesized that if the Drosophila melanogaster ingested natural

sugar, then their reproduction rate would be higher than the flies that consumed artificial

sweeteners. Though artificial sweeteners have fewer calories than sugar, there are other

substances in sweeteners that can make it less healthy than sugar. The independent variables in

this experiment are the different substances that we are using on the fruit flies, which are the

dependant variables. We used 3 different sweeteners, pure sugar, and normal fly food as the

independent variables in this experiment. We performed 3 trials involving each of the 5

substances. An equal number of flies were placed into each test tube and the results were

found after 1 week. We came to the conclusion that pure sugar is the best substance for flies

because the reproduction rate was the highest, and all 3 of the artificial sweeteners had a lower

reproduction rate than the normal fly food.

The Effect of Algae on Water Daphnia S-2

Elijah Mulligan & Jacob Eckhardt

Adams Central, Zac Foster

In our project, we tested the effect of algae on Water Daphnia. We wanted to know if animals

are affected in environments containing more algae. To conduct this experiment, we took three

containers and filled them with 150 mL of lukewarm water and added 5 daphnia to each

container. Next, we added different concentrations of algae. After days of testing, we were able

to conclude that the daphnia in the container with the most algae, deceased quicker.

Does Adding Hours of Light to a Chicken Coop Increase Egg Production? S-3

Hannah Winfield


My project is a study of six chicken hens to see if adding light onto their day would make them

lay more eggs. My hypothesis was that it would. I found that it only went up by one egg a week

from 24 to 25, and that the earlier time was the same as the later time. They also started

bullying each other and pecking order was not clearly established.

The Efficacy of Dectomax Injectable Dosages on Receiving Feedlot Calves in Eastern Nebraska S-4

Chesney Reeves

Central City Public Schools, Chelle Gillan

The purpose of this study was to determine if the dosage of Dectomax, an injectable

anthelmintic ivermectin produced by Zoetis, is efficient in reducing stomach nematodes.

Stomach nematodes, if not controlled, can become a costly problem to producers. To test the

efficacy of Dectomax, 192 untreated cattle used were received at the University of Nebraska

Eastern Nebraska Research Feedlot, where initial collections of rectal fecal samples were taken.

Each calf was then administered 5.5 mL of Dectomax according to average weight of the calves

and the recommended dosage on each Dectomax bottle label (1 mL/110 lb of body weight).

The samples were sent to Merck Animal Health Lab in Lawrence, Kansas, and a fecal flotation

test was conducted to determine total egg count, consisting of stomach worms, nematodirus,

and cooperia eggs. Twelve days after initial collection, a second collection of rectal fecal

samples was obtained from the same 200 calves. A flotation test was again conducted on the

fecal samples. The data was analyzed using statistical tests to determine whether there was a

significant reduction in egg counts. The results of the second fecal collection showed that there

were significantly less eggs in the samples. A test was conducted to determine whether calf

weight and worm burden was correlated, which showed no correlation. This type of research is

important because parasitic infections can have a large impact on cattle production, and with

the growing human population, it is increasingly important to have efficient food production

methods.

The Effect of Smoke on the Sensory Ability of Drosphila Melanogaster S-5

Charles McGinnis


The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of pollution on Drosophila sensory

ability. I used smoke to represent pollution that people may be exposed to. I chose this

experiment because it is an important subject to know about with as much pollution that is

being emitted into the atmosphere today. The flies were exposed to the following treatments:

no pollution, one minute of pollution, two minutes of pollution, and three minutes of pollution.

The flies were then transferred to a T-tube and given a choice between a cotton round soaked

with apple cider vinegar or water. They were then scored according to which side they chose

after 30 seconds. The difference in choice was not shown to be statistically different. The

hypothesis that pollution will have an effect on neuronal function was rejected because the P-

value of 0.131 is greater than the critical value of 0.05; therefore, we can infer that the number

of flies that were attracted to water and apple cider vinegar was not significantly different. My

recommendations for furthering research is increase the amount trials for more accurate

results. Further investigation of this subject is important to determine the consequences of

pollution.

The Effect of Red Clover on Zebrafish Embryos S-6

Graci McGinnis


I wanted to see if red clover would affect the developmental process of zebrafish embryos. Red

clover is a key ingredient in Monat hair products, so I wanted to see if it could cause

detrimental effects on an animal. I hypothesized that the red clover would slow the

developmental process and affect the embryos. I separated the embryos into their own petri

dishes and put either 100, 200, or 300 μm of red clover into the petri dish and took pictures

through a microscope hourly. The red clover quickly caused the the embryos to dry up. The 100

μm group died after about six hours of being exposed to red clover. The 200 μm group died

after about four hours, and the 300 μm group died after 1-2 hours.

Do birds have the ability to adapt to food being presented in different ways? S-7

Faith Carroll


Since I have such a high interest in birds, I really wanted to make my research project about

them. I wanted to see the different ways that birds adapted to obtaining food. I hypothesized

that the birds I was observing would be able to adapt and learn how to get the food that was

being set out for them at varying levels of difficulty. My original setup included a 10x12x10in

bird feeder that was plexiglass on three sides, and wood on the fourth. I placed a container of

mealworms inside the feeder. A motion sensor camera was set up on an adjacent tree to record

the number of birds that visited the feeder. No birds visited the feeder, so I set up a different

bird feeder, that was not enclosed in a box to try to get birds to visit. I also set up a heated

water bowl to try and attract the birds. After roughly 5 weeks, no data could be taken because

there were no recorded visits. My hypothesis can not be supported or rejected because of this.

There are many possible explanations for why the birds did not go after the food such as

location, temperature, and food choice. In the future I would like to test what attracts birds to

certain feeding spots instead, since I am curious as to why they did not want to come to my

feeder.

Vertical Transmission of Light Preference in Regenerated Planaria: Does Ethanol Have an S-8

Epigenetic Effect?

Cayden Homolka


The purpose of this experiment was to learn about how behavioral traits are passed down

through generations during asexual reproduction. 30 Dugesia tigrina (brown planaria) were

placed individually into a two inch petri dish with 12 mL of spring water. The worms were

placed under four desk lamps with 10 Watt, 760 lumen bulbs in them, and the dishes were

labeled to allow tracking of inheritance. Each dish was taped with electrical tape so that 50% of

the dish was a dark environment. Every hour for a 24 hour time period a picture was taken and

data was recorded on whether the planaria was in the light or dark. The worms were then cut

in half and exposed to different amounts of 1% ethanol. The control group was given 12 mL of

water and 0 mL of ethanol, the second was given 6 mL of water and 6 mL of ethanol, and the

last group was given 3 mL of water and 9 mL of ethanol. After 15 days, data on light preference

was again recorded. Both the worms regenerated from the anterior and posterior ends

inherited the original worm’s traits. The different amounts of ethanol did not affect the

outcome of whether the worm inherited the behavioral trait or not. To further extend the

study, testing a larger sample of planaria, using a different chemical, or even using a different

animal that reproduces asexually would provide additional information on how behavioral

traits are passed on through asexual reproduction.

The Effect of Herbicide on the Ability of Wolf Spiders to Escape S-9

Emily Blomstedt


This experiment was conducted due to the use of chemicals on crops in our local communities

and the effects it could have on the ecosystem. I wanted to see how herbicides could cause

problems in the function of an invertebrate organism that is an important member of the local

food web. I chose wolf spiders as a prime candidate for my research, due to their capability of

selective cognitive strategies and usefulness in predator avoidance research. I hypothesized

that exposing wolf spiders to various amounts of herbicide would have a negative effect on

their cognitive strategies, and therefore affect their ability to escape. The wolf spiders were

placed in individual containers where they were given water and food. After being allowed to

acclimate, the herbicide solutions were applied to the spiders’ water supply. Four days after the

initial exposure, the spiders’ escapability was tested, using a film canister. The percentage of

escape successes (100%) was highest in the control group that was given no herbicide, followed

by the groups given a 25% concentration of herbicide (56%), and a 50% concentration (56%).

The lowest escape success was in the group given 100% herbicide (33%). For further studies, I

would like to be able to keep track of how long it takes for the spider to move intentionally

away from the film canister. I would also like to see if the herbicide affects predator and prey

relations.

The Effect Of Thiamethoxam, Fludioxonil, Mefenoxam, Sedaxane, and Difenoconazole on S-10

Painted Lady Butterfly Larva

Jessica Ohlman


In this project, I wanted to determine the effect of agricultural chemicals on the survival rate

and days to maturity of butterfly larva. I exposed the larva to a variety of chemicals used by

farmers all over the world. I mixed .1 mL of each of the following chemicals or chemical

combinations with 6 g of painted lady larva food: (fludioxonil and mefenoxam),

(thiamethoxam), (thiamethoxam, fludioxonil, sedaxane, and mefenoxam (TFSM)), and

(sedaxane, difenoconazole, and mefenoxam (SDM)). There was 6 larva group, and there was

also a control group with no chemicals mixed in. I learned that thiamethoxam did the most

damage, resulting in the death of all larva expose to thiamethoxam alone. However, when

mixed with other chemicals thiamethoxam was not as lethal. TFSM and SDM had similar

survival rates of 66% which I think shows that fludioxonil did not have a major effect on the

larva when mixed with two or more chemicals. Although when fludioxonil was mixed with

mefenoxam 50% of the larva died. If I were to continue this research, I would like to do more

trials and test how many days it takes the larva to form cocoons.

A Field Study to Determine the Presence of Caenorhabditis Nematodes in Central Nebraska S-11

Gabrielle Moser


Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living nematode found in rotting plant material where it

consumes microbes. C. elegans have been found in Europe, Africa, South America, and the

western United States. This research was conducted to determine whether Caenorhabditis

elegans is present in central Nebraska. It was predicted that C. elegans would be found in

rotting apples in central Nebraska. 10 apples were picked from 10 trees in Merrick County.

Nematodes extracted were identified by morphological characteristics. 8 of the 10 apple

samples collected yielded nematodes. Worms from these apples were extracted into 21

separate dishes, 10 of which showed similarities to C. elegans. In order to verify the presence of

C. elegans, a portion of the small ribosomal RNA (SSU) gene was sequenced. Sequencing results

were compared to a genetic database. The 10 strains that were morphologically similar to C.

elegans were chosen to be genetically sequenced. 8 of these were identified as Caenorhabditis

sp. 8 KK-2011. The other two that were sequenced were identified as Rhabditidoides VS-2014.

The 8 strains that were identified as Caenorhabditis sp. 8 KK-2011 were found in three different

apples from one location and one apple from a separate location. The two strains that were

identified as Rhabditidoides VS-2014 were found in one apple from a different location than the

Caenorhabditis sp. 8 KK-2011. A phylogenetic tree on the nematodes collected was generated.

Category 2 - Behavioral & Social Sciences

Effects of Axio and a Placebo on Brain Activity S-12

Elizabeth Anderson & Morgan Burr


Smart drinks are becoming more and more popular. Everyone is trying to figure out what they

can eat or drink that will enhance some sort of performance, whether it be physical or mental.

This experiment tested a smart drink and tried to determine how it affects focus and brain

activity. Axio was the product that was tested. Axio claims to deliver more mental clarity, focus,

and concentration, without the crash that comes with most energy drinks. To see what kind of

effect Axio really has on the brain, the Muse Headband and Muse Monitor app were used.

Along with testing Axio, this experiment investigated how a placebo would influence the test

results. Four girls and four boys were tested. Two girls and two boys drank MIO Liquid Water

Enhancer, which should not have any influence on focus or concentration. Two girls and two

boys were given Axio; however, all participants believed they were drinking Axio and that it

should improve their focus levels. Our hypothesis was that if given Axio, then focus would

improve because of the ingredients that are in Axio. Our hypothesis was that if given MIO water

flavoring, then focus levels would also increase, because if we believe something is helping, it

can actually lead to our body producing similar effects.

Can You Taste The Difference? S-13

Merci Hood & Mollie Kubicka


In our science fair experiment, we wanted to find a better way to eat some of our favorite

treats. Since scientists are now leaning towards the idea that sugar is very toxic for your body,

we wanted to substitute sugar within treats. We wanted to test if age made a difference in

which sugar was most favored in various treats. To do this, we baked brownies and cookies

each with sugar, Splenda and honey and had kids taste and fill out a survey sheet. We then

carried out our experiment with first graders, fifth graders and tenth graders to test their ability

to taste the difference. When going through our data, we found that there was no significant

difference between 1st, 5th, and 10th graders and their ability to correctly guess what type of

sugar was used. There was a significant difference, however, between whether or not they

would eat the treat again and how they rated the treat they ate.

The Effects of Chewing Gum On Academic Performance S-14

Cameron Foster


My experiment examined if there was a correlation between chewing gum and test score

performance. I felt this was an important problem to investigate because the majority of

students chew gum and also wish to be successful academically. If I could prove that gum helps

students be more successful in school then my project could be of value to my peers. I

investigated this problem by having students take tests with or without gum at different

intervals. My results showed that chewing gum before the test and then spitting it out was the

best way to improve test scores, and that having no gum at all provided the worst results.

Is Short Term Memory and Critical Thinking Declining in Younger Generations? S-15

Mari Conant & Alex Birky


Our project is titled Is Short Term Memory and Critical Thinking Declining in Younger

Generation? To test this question we gave four different generations three tests. We tested the

following generations : Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), Millennials

(1980-1996), and Generation Z (1996- 2015). We gave each generation a short term memory

test, a critical thinking test, and a cognitive ability test. After collecting the results of the tests

we averaged each generation and compared them to each other. Our results showed that for

the short term memory test Generation Z exceeded the most followed by Generation X then

the Millennials, and last the Baby Boomers. For critical thinking our results showed that

Generation X and the Millennials tied with the best scores, followed by the Baby Boomers and

Generation Z who tied with the same score. Finally for the cognitive ability test the results

showed that the scores slowly declined from the best with Generation Z to the worst with the

Baby Boomer (Youngest generation to the oldest generation).

The effects of different types of music on the recall ability S-16

Emmily Freitag


Almost everybody listens to music on a daily basis, even while studying or performing simple

tasks. It’s important to know if music affects these things in a negative or positive way. The

question asked in this experiment is, how different types music affect the recall ability. The

people were tested with pop-, rap-, and classical-music and also completely without music at

all. The hypothesis was, that listening to no music at all would have the best results, but also

that classical music would have good results, compared to the other types of music. The

materials used were 4 lists of 20 vocabulary words, a timer, 9 test people, and three different

songs (one from each genre tested).The test people had three minutes to try and memorize as

many of the vocabulary words as possible, while listening to the song or in one case, no music.

The results were that classical music was the best music to listen to, followed by rap music. Pop

music and no music had the worst effect on the recall ability, however pop music still had a

better effect than no music at all. It was a surprising result, which also went against my

hypothesis and proved my first statement wrong.

Category 3 - Chemistry

Luminol Chemiluminescence S-17

Megan Wheeland & KaLee Fanning


Luminol is used in criminal investigations for the detection of blood. The luminol reacts with

iron found in our blood to create a chemiluminescence reaction. This is helpful at crime scenes

where little evidence seems to be present. The only issue with this is that the luminol mixture

sometimes doesn’t fluoresce as bright or long enough to be able to record any blood

detections. While following a chemistry instruction sheet, I decreased and increased the

amount of luminol in order to see if there was any way to get the mixture to fluoresce long

enough and bright enough for investigators and forensic scientists to have time to study and

record blood detection. I completed six trials using luminol, distilled water, sodium hydroxide,

hydrogen peroxide, and potassium ferricyanide. I recorded my findings via pictures for

fluorescence, and a timer for the length of time the mixture glowed. After my six trials were

completed, I found that increasing the luminol did make it fluoresce brighter, but shortened the

length of time the mixture glowed. I found that using 0.1 grams of Luminol in an 800 ml distilled

water mixture, fluoresced the brightest and the longest.

Category 4 – Computer Science

Comparison of Photographic Quality of Multiple Devices S-18

Luke Swanson


In this experiment the question asked was “Do higher end cameras take better pictures than

cell phone cameras?” Five Different cameras were tested during the project. There were

different styles of cameras tested which were two DSLR’s, a point and shoot, an iPhone, and

and iPad mini. The hypothesis was that The hypothesis is that the DSLR’s will do slightly better

than the rest of the cameras. They should catch more detail and do a better job on each

subject. They should also do a better job with focusing. The Canon will most likely do the best

because it is the higher end camera. The five camera models tested were a Canon Mark 5D,

Nikon D7200, Nikon Coolpix A300, iPhone X, and iPad mini. The Nikon D7200 was the best

working camera out of the five.

Category 5 - Earth and Planetary Science

Influences of intensive agriculture on central Nebraska climate S-19

Jade Erickson


This project was about how irrigation, which is the application of controlled amounts of water

to plants at needed intervals, might have an effect on weather and climate. With the increasing

numbers of irrigated acres in Merrick Country, Nebraska over the past half century, there is the

potential for this irrigation to affect the climate of the area. I hypothesized that increasing

irrigation rates have increased the monthly total precipitation, the monthly average

temperature, and the monthly average humidity in the summer months (June-August) in the

Merrick County, Nebraska area. Temperature and humidity data from the NOAA website,

irrigation data from the Central Platte NRD website, and humidity data from the HPRCC website

were collected and correlation tests were conducted. The results show a slight of increase of

humidity and precipitation over the years, but temperature remained fairly steady when even

though the irrigation and temperature correlation graph show a weak positive correlation

(R=0.26). Precipitation and irrigation show a moderate negative correlation (R=-0.49). Humidity

and irrigation showed no correlation (R=0.05). In future research, I would measure

evapotranspiration by agriculture crops in central Nebraska to see whether this correlates with

climate trends.

Category 6 – Engineering:Electrical/Mechanical

Which Bridge Will Hold The Most Weight? S-20

Samuel Himmelberg & Grant Miller


Do some bridges hold more weight than others? We will be testing the weight capacity of the

arch and truss bridges. If we compare the two bridge designs, then we believe the Arch bridge

will hold the most weight because the arches will add more support. Bridges made of popsicle

sticks were used to test our hypothesis. We tested the bridges by placing poles horizontally

through the middle of the bridge and hanging a bucket from the poles with a bungee cord so

that it doesn’t touch the ground. We slowly filled the bucket until the bridges snapped. After

averaging the weight held by each bridge and then comparing the results to the other bridge,

we found our hypothesis was correct. The arch bridge held the most weight. This experiment

taught us a lot about how bridge design effects the sturdiness of a bridge.

Replacements for Motor Oil S-21

Corbin Karmazin & Theodore Kathman


Our project is called Replacements for Motor Oil. Our objective was to build a lubricity tester to

test the possible alternatives to motor oil. Our hypothesis was, “If we test different liquids

lubricity, then one of then might have the same or less wear than motor oil.” We built our

machine to test our liquids and tested items ranging from anti-freeze to vegetable oil and even

Mtn. Dew. We tested each liquid for one minute except for our control which we did for a

minute and a half. Our results had anti-freeze doing the best with the least wear, and lighter

fluid doing the worst with the longest wear mark and several in between with varying lengths of

wear. Our purpose for our project was to determine what would make a good replacement for

motor oil if you are in a situation where you might not have oil to use.

Engineering an Automatic Fish Feeder S-22

Jonathan Borgman

Silver Lake Public Schools, Andrea Curlo

The FFA chapter at my school put up a greenhouse 4 years ago and has continued to maintain

the greenhouse. This is a tool that can be used in the horticulture class or with agricultural

related learning. In the greenhouse, the FFA chapter set up an aquaponics system to fertilize

the plants. They had the system running, but soon found an issue. The fish were required to be

fed every day at certain times of the day. This proved to be a problem when people went on

vacations, on weekends, and even when it snowed so much, no one could make it to the

school.

The FFA advisor, who is my physics teacher, approached me with this problem. The solution

would be to create an automatic fish feeder. To buy one was too expensive and would not work

well for the small setup. I would have to create one from scratch that would be cost efficient

and a perfect size.

Not only was I able to do so, but I created a fish feeder that could be programmed to match any

size or amount of fish. I went through a procedure of researching, testing, adapting, and

repeating until I came to a design perfect for the situation.

Category 7 - Engineering: Materials/Bioengineering

Which type of pot is best for heating up water? S-23

Brianna Stroh & Taylia Huyser


There are so many types of pots to choose from, how are you supposed to know which one

works for you? We are doing this project because we both love to be in the kitchen and

cooking, and we wanted to do something that would benefit a lot of people. The problem that

we had was “which type of pot works best for boiling water?”. To get the answer to this

question, we tested 4 types of pots. We first filled them with water, then put them onto the

stove for 4 minutes, we recorded the temperature of the water in the pot after every minute.

Our results showed that the Bigger Stainless Steel pot was the best out of the ones that we

tested because it had the highest change in temperature over four minutes on the stove.

However, our conclusion is that the copper pot should have been the best if all the pots were

the same size. We concluded this because since the copper pot was the biggest, the heat from

the stove had to heat up all of the pot, then the heat from the copper pot continued on into

heating up the water.

Cement Reinforcement S-24

Creed Johnson

Wilcox-Hildreth Public Schools, Marjorie DamitOg

In any construction project, cement is always needed. In the history of men especially in the

ancient times, Romans experimented on adding horse hair to add to the strength of the

concrete. This caught my interest to try plastic if this can reinforce cement. I decided to use

cement without anything as my controlled, and used strips of plastic trash and strip water

bottle plastic. My constant variables are the weight of cement, amount of water, molding

medium, length of curing period and the number of strips. I tested the impact by using weights

to measure the impact.

Result from trials 1,2 and 3 showed consistently showed that the cement with water bottle

strips endured the greatest impact flowed by trash bag strips and cement without additives.

I therefore conclude after all the test that cement alone will not be enough, additive regardless

of will help strengthen the cement.

Category 8 - Environmental Management

Homemade vs Store Bought Minnow Trap S-25

Spencer Willems


I love to trap a whole bunch of minnows and use them as bait for fishing, so I wanted to see

how I could catch more. I wanted to see if I could make a homemade trap that was just as good

as a store bought one. I used a two liter bottle and turned it into a minnow catching machine. I

put both traps to the test and went and set both of them out for two days. After day one I

counted how many I had and set them back for a second day. I came back after day two,

counted them and averaged how many I got in each trap out of both days. It turned out that

the store bought trap caught more than the homemade one. I feel that both traps can do very

well in catching them though.

Is your H2O safe for drinking? S-26

Natalie Billington


Water is the universal solvent and it comprises 60% of the adult body, meaning it is so vital to

the living things on earth. Since the area is surrounded by farmland, I decided to check if

drinking waters around area surrounding areas are safe to drink. I collected waters from the

surrounding area, water inside or outside was collected. I decided to test all drinking water 14

chemical test using test strips. The tests including: pH, alkalinity, carbonates, cyanuric acid,

hardness, fluoride, chlorine, bromine, nitrite, nitrate, lead, copper, iron and free chlorine.

I used the amount of water, the same temperature and the same container. The procedure on

how to use for the test strips were strictly followed.

After all the tests, result showed that all drinking water that was tested showed no presence of

fluoride, total chlorine, bromine, iron and free chlorine. Others showed presence of

Carbonates, cyanuric acid, total hardness, nitrite and nitrate, lead and copper. All drinking

water differs in pH and alkalinity.

Category 9 - Environmental Sciences

The Effect of Margaritifera Margaritifera on Nitrates S-27

Tyler Slechta & Tristan Weston


Our area is very agriculturally centered and various chemicals find their way into our water affecting our

drinking water. Hastings, Nebraska will soon have to deal with a large plume of nitrate rich water

entering the well area and has been taking measures to pump high nitrate water into storage lagoons

where it can be treated. In August of 2018, a sample from a Hastings Municipal water well was tested

for nitrates. It was tested and found to have 10.7 ppm nitrates. The federal standard for nitrates in

drinking water is not to exceed 10 ppm. In an experiment conducted in New York state, scientists

studied the ability of freshwater mussels (bivalves) to filter water and reduce particulate matter. They

discovered the mussels could remove a substantial amount of particulate matter in a short period of

time. Since freshwater mussels can filter large amounts of water, we were interested if mussels could

also remove nitrates from local ponds. We collected water from three locations around the Hastings,

Nebraska. We also collected high nitrate water samples from test well in Hastings Utilities. We added

three mussels to water samples from each source. We also set aside a water sample from each location

as a control. We measured conductivity, nitrates, pH, and dissolved oxygen to understand the mussels

effect on the water quality. We concluded that these mussels successfully filter most particulate matter

and are are able to reduce nitrates in all water samples. The use of mussels could be applied as a cost

effective and environmentally healthy way to treat high nitrate water from waterways.

Effect of Simulated Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on Chlorella and Dunaliella Salina S-28

Photosynthetic Rates

Claire Anderson


Motivation for this project came from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Spill. Marine life has been

impacted by oil spills in some ways that humans may not be able to see immediately. This

project investigates the photosynthesis rates of Chlorella, a freshwater algae, and Dunaliella

Salina, a marine algae, exposed to oil. This was explored through pH. Through determining

increase of pH in culture tubes, the influence of human-environmental impact was obvious.

Information on this topic is vital as the need for environmental awareness is growing. The

future of the planet is on this generation’s shoulders and it is crucial to educate the citizens of

the Earth on the impact they hold on smaller, and similar organisms.

The Effects of Pharmaceutical Waste on the Heart Rate of Daphnia magna S-29

Mackinzi Hill & Jaden Nienhueser


Pharmaceutical waste has been a problem in our environment for years, but now it is making its

way into water being used by American families. Drugs get into our water supply when people

flush their unused prescriptions down the toilet. While water from sewage is filtered and

chlorinated, the drugs remain in the water. The particulate is too fine to be caught in any city

sewer filtration system. This experiment was set up to see how common diluted prescription

medications could affect aquatic organisms. Our project features Oxycodone, Hydrocodone,

Naproxen, Acetaminophen, and Ibuprofen as they were the most common drugs found in water

systems. We took data from a report showing the amount of pharmaceutical waste in tap water

from different American cities and used this as a guide to properly dilute the medications. We

then added our animal model, the aquatic crustacean, Daphnia magna, into the solutions and

tested their heart rates to determine the impact. Pharmaceutical waste in our water has the

potential to harm us, especially if the amount continues to grow under current disposal

methods . This experiment was aiming to show that increasing amounts of pharmaceutical

waste is a potential issue that must be addressed.

Reducing Ammonium Levels in Chicken Feces by Ingestion of Antioxidants from S-30

Cyanococcus

Kieren Feeney


My project, “Reducing Ammonium Levels in Chicken Feces by Ingestion of Antioxidants from

Cyanococcus” studies the effects of antioxidants on ammonium levels. I am researching the

effects of antioxidants on ammonium and nitrogen levels. I want to research this topic because

I read an article about a boy who contracted salmonella from breathing in the air from his

chicken coop. Upon further research, the salmonella was caused by high ammonium and

nitrogen levels in the air of the coop. The dangerous levels of the free radicals was later found

in the feces of the chickens. This is significant to me because I have 50 laying hens at my house

and once I read about this, I knew that it would make a great project. The independent variable

in my experiment was my control group of non-antioxidant food, and my dependent variable

was if the chickens were introduced to antioxidants. I concluded that there was a significant

difference when the antioxidants were used by conducting a T-Test, and I also conducted a

standard deviation test to determine how centralized my data was. I concluded that the

antioxidants had an effect on the amount of ammonium produced in the chicken feces, and my

data supports my conclusion.

Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Drosophila Melanogaster S-31

Jersie Frerichs & Melinda Nienhueser


In this project we are testing the effect of UV Radiation on Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies).

We chose this project to see what damages can come from UV radiation. This is important to

educate people of the effects that tanning beds and the sun can have on your body. This would

also encourage people to wear sunscreen. Before completing our experiment, we thought that

if we put D. melanogaster under a UV, then they will experience mutations because UV light

can be damaging to humans. To conduct our research we started by making four groups with 20

total flies, 10 males and 10 females. Group A was placed by the UV light for 5 minutes. Group B

was placed by the UV light for 10 minutes, and group C was placed by the UV light for 15

minutes. Group D was our control and was never placed by the UV light. We put the groups

next to the UV light 3 times, counting the flies after each 10 days. Our independent variable

was how long each group was next to the light, and our dependent variable was the number of

flies. After 30 days, we found that the group placed next to the light for the longest time period

did not have mutations, but had a slower reproductive rate. To conclude we found that UV

Radiation can be harmful to D. melanogaster.

Soap Versus Oil S-32

Maddie McDaniel & Jessica Babcock


Our testable question is What soap is most effective when removing oil from birds? Many

environments are ruined by oil spills everyday. With our experiment, we tested possible

solutions for cleaning oil off of birds. We used feathers to symbolize the affected birds. Four

different known soap brands were tested. In addition, we created a soap that breaks down

proteins in oil, using coconut oil, water, hydrogenated soybean oil, avocado oil, and potassium

hydroxide (KOH). By following our consistent procedure, we were able to find out what soap

was most effective in this scenario.

The Effect of Antibiotics on The Heart Rate and Survivability of Daphnia magna S-33

Kyle Dittmer


This study was conducted to observe the effects of antibiotic pollution on the heart rate and

survivability of the freshwater crustacean, Daphnia magna. It was hypothesised that diluted

antibiotics (0.05mg/mL) would have an effect on the heart rate and survival of D. magna. I

chose this study because of the ever increasing severity of antibiotic pollution. The goal of this

study was to gain a better understanding of how these pollutants affect freshwater ecosystems.

Four groups of ten Daphnia each were placed into separate Petri dishes. The Daphnia were

placed one at a time into a solution of pure water or antibiotic for 5 minutes and then a video

of the heart rate was recorded from a microscope. After each Daphnia was tested it was placed

into a container filled with its respective solution, and the number of deaths was was recorded

each day for 7 days. The Daphnia exposed to doxycycline and amoxicillin had a significantly

greater heart rate than the control, however, the Daphnia exposed to cephalexin did not show

a significant change in the average heart rate. The study did not show that antibiotics had an

effect on short term survivability. An explanation for this is that the Daphnia may need to be

exposed to antibiotics for a longer time period in order for survival to be affected. Future

research would include focussing more on the effects of antibiotic pollution on long term

survivability, reproduction, and feeding behavior.

ZEA mays: A VIABLE MATERIAL FOR BIODEGRADABLE PLASTIC S-34

Evan Blank


This project is aimed to test the feasibility of Zea mays as a raw material for production of

biodegradable plastic. Corn can be made into this plastic which is a polylactic acid fermented

from plant starch. It's quickly becoming a popular alternative through traditional petroleum-

based plastics. I produced a biodegradable plastic using the starch from ground up corn as its

main component. The starch was mixed with water, glycerol, and vinegar. The following were

used to test the biodegradable plastic; flammability, reaction, to Hydrochloric acid and Sodium

hydroxide, water absorption, reaction to organic solution, tensile and biodegradability. My

hypothesis is that biodegradable plastic from Zea mays is reactive to Hydrochloric acid and

Sodium hydroxide. Results show that the hypothesis was rejected. The T-test showed the

tabulated value was 2.920 and my degree of freedom was 2. All the computed value for acidity,

alkalinity, tensile and flammability is higher than the tabulated value therefore, biodegradable

plastic if not reactive to acid, alkalinity, tensile and flammability.

Category 10 - Medicine and Health Sciences

Transfemoral vs. Transradial Access in Cardiac Catheterization S-35

Morgan Baker


Interventional and diagnostic cardiology deals with catheter-based treatment of coronary heart

diseases through procedures such as cardiac catheterizations, angioplasty and stenting. These

procedures may be done through the radial artery in the wrist, being the modern approach, or

the femoral artery in the thigh, being the classical approach. The world is slowly adapting to the

new method, which is believed to be more safe and cost effective. In this study, past data

comparing the pros and cons of transradial vs. transfemoral approach was evaluated. The radial

method was shown to decrease bleeding complications, procedure cost, post-procedure pain,

recovery time, and patient satisfaction.

The Effect of Topical Acne Medication on Staphylococcus Epidermidis S-36

Evan Johnson & Grant Johnson


According to the American Academy of Dermatology, 85 percent of people ages 12 to 24

experience some degree of acne. Many studies have been done to show that there are multiple

species of bacteria that cause acne. One species of bacteria that causes acne is Staphylococcus

Epidermidis Staphylococcus Epidermidis is a bacteria normally found harmless on the surface of

the skin, but when it gets inside the skin it can cause infections. One of the most common

treatment options for acne is a topical medicinal cream that is applied to the area where acne is

present. There are many different products, but is one product with different ingredients,

better than another? We tested 4 products with different ingredients to find out which one

inhibits the growth of staphylococcus aureus the best. The products we tested were as follows:

Clindamycin Phosphate / Benzoyl Peroxide, Salicylic Acid, Benzoyl peroxide 3.5% and Benzoyl

peroxide 10%. We hypothesized that Clindamycin Phosphate / Benzoyl Peroxide would work

the best because Clindamycin is an antibiotic. The independent variable was the medicine used,

and the dependent variable was the zone of inhibition (the space where the bacteria wouldn’t

grow). To our surprize, Clindamycin Phosphate / Benzoyl Peroxide hardly did anything. The

Salicylic Acid provided the largest zone of inhibition. We also proved another theory; that,

higher concentrations of Benzoyl Peroxide do not work better than lower concentrations. In

conclusion, our data proves that Salicylic Acid is the best topical medication to treat

Staphylococcus bacteria that can cause acne.

Antibacterial Effects of Honey S-37

Hannah McDaniel


The use of antibacterial creams with antibiotics in them can lead to antibiotic resistance. In

some cases antibiotic creams can aid the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. We want to see

how effective the honey is and hope to find an alternative to provide a possibility of rotation to

prevent this resistance to build up. We think that if manuka honey is used to fight off

Staphylococcus epidermidis, then it will kill close to if not as much S. epidermidis as neosporin

because it contains a high concentration of methylglyoxal, which makes the honey have a

stronger antibacterial effect. The independent variable was the antibacterial substance and the

dependent was the growth of the bacteria.

How Can Aerobic Exercise Improve Your Short Term Memory? S-38

Chelsey Wiseman


Studies show that when you workout, chemicals are released in your brain that fuel different

parts of your brain. Chemicals generally fueling the hippocampus, can improve your memory

function over periods of times. How can exercise improve your memory? This was conducted

by a short test of memorizing letters before and after a short 3 minute workout. Each individual

would perform the following: memory test of letters, short workout, memory test of different

letters. What this was trying to prove is that your memory function would improve after you did

the workout rather than before. The hypothesis for this was was, if you workout more often,

then your memory function of your brain will improve because when you workout it stimulates

chemicals in the brain that affect the health of brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in

the brain, and the survival and abundance of new brain cells. This hypothesis was accepted by

the overall averages of the individual’s memory results improving after performing the short

workout.

Cost Analysis of the Effectiveness of Designer Shampoos S-39

Madison Miller


This experiment is going to help figure out what the differences are between drugstore brand

and expensive salon brand shampoos. This topic is important because you will get to determine

what shampoos are worth your money and what shampoos aren't. It is hypothesized that the

salon brands of shampoo will do significantly better than the drugstore brands. The salon

brands should do better than the drugstore brands because of the higher quality ingredients.

The variables in this project are the different types of hair types as well as the different types of

shampoo that will be used. The variable that will stay the same is the thickness of the hair.

During this experiment samples of hair were taken and then washed by different shampoos to

determine the quality of each shampoo and whether or not they are worth spending your

money on. Then each hair sample was put under a microscope and then had its picture taken to

examine how clean or unclean it was to the unwashed hair sample. Next, a google form was

made and had different people judge which hair they thought looked best. It was found that

each type of hair reacted differently to different people’s hair. Each subject had a different

shampoo win a category. In conclusion, after washing different types of hair and looking at the

hair under a microscope, it was found that different shampoos react differently to different

types of hair.

Concussion Risk in Sports S-40

Oakley Rosno


Concussions are a very serious issue and it is important for people to know if they have a

concussion so they can prevent future concussions and minimize the risk of permanent health

issues because of head injuries. The question asked in the experiment is what is the risk of

concussions in sports. Almost 30% of the people surveyed had or possibly had a concussion. Of

the people who had suffered a concussion, over 60% were participating in sports when it

occurred. The most common sport people sustained a concussion during was basketball. The

most common symptoms after a concussion were dizziness and headaches. Most people sat

out of competitive sports for one week after sustaining a concussion.

The Effect of Changing One Ingredient in a Cookie Recipe S-41

Cierra Mankhey


In this project, five subjects will be used to test if substituting the butter in a cookie recipe will

change the appearance, the level of moisture, the consistency, or the flavor. This project will

allow people to make scrumptious cookies, without the butter. It is hypothesized that changing

one ingredient will change the way the cookies taste. Figure one showed a bar chart of the

average cookie appearance after replacing the butter with other ingredients. Figure two

showed a bar chart of the average consistency of the cookie after replacing the butter with

different ingredients. Figure three showed the average level of moisture of each cookie after

replacing the butter in the recipe with other similar ingredients. Figure four showed the

average taste of each cookie after substituting the butter with other ingredients. After making

the original cookie recipe with butter, the butter was replaced with different ingredients such

as salted butter, vegetable oil, and Crisco. The cookies were baked at the same temperature

and for the same amount of time. After performing this experiment it was concluded that

replacing the butter in a normal cookie recipe will affect the way the cookies taste, appear, how

moist they are, and the consistency.

Popular Drinks against Pain Reliever S-42

Noelle Richmond


The demand for pain reliever medicine is so high for temporary relive for minor pain. There are

a lot of reason pain afflict people of different walks of life, pain caused by stress, change in

temperature, from infection or pain from too much work. People take this pain medication with

a solvent, and this gave me the idea to test which solvent will dissociate or dissolve the pain

reliever the shortest amount of time. I decided to use water as my controlled and 11 different

kinds of popular drinks: namely, apple juice, orange juice, powerade, coke regular and diet,

pepsi, tea and mountain dew. Also, I used a room temperature and cold temperature. I

measured the time it took for the pain reliever to dissolve and took note of the pH before and

after the dissolution rate.

After the two trials, result showed that diet pepsi dissolved the pain reliever in just a matter of

104 seconds, followed by diet coke and diet mountain dew.

I therefore conclude base from the result that soda is best in dissolving the pain reliever

specially if it is a diet.

Category 11- Microbiology

Bacteria Growth on Gym Equipment S-43

Caitlyn Scott


Have you ever wondered what bacteria could be growing on gym equipment you use? My

investigation sought to identify bacteria growing on equipment in order to improve cleaning.

My first hypothesis was if bacteria can grow on gym equipment, then there would be an

increased amount of bacteria because the conditions in a gym are ideal for bacteria resulting

from various human contact. My second hypothesis was if the plate had a lot of the same

looking colonies, then most of them would be Staphylococcus Aureus because Staph is a very

common bacteria found of surfaces in a gym. Finally, my hypothesis was if the cleaner is

effective, then the clear ring around the dipped disk will be larger because the cleaner killed

more bacteria. During this investigation, I swabbed a 25 pound weight, a bench, a barbel, and a

kettlebell three times each. After cleaning the surfaces with disinfectant spray, I swabbed each

piece of equipment three more times and cultured the bacteria on two different petri dishes,

Mannitol Salt and Luria Broth. I then counted colony forming units and carried out a PCR

process to confirm the presence of bacteria. The average bacteria growth on the contaminated

bench was 44⅔, with one sample too numerous to count. After cleaning the bench, that

number changed to 21⅓. The barbell’s colony count was 19 on the contaminated surface and

1⅓ on the disinfected surface. The contaminated 25 pound weight had an average of 13; while

the disinfected surface had 1⅓. The kettlebell had the least; 10 contaminated and 1⅓

disinfected. The Mannitol Salt plates averaged much less. The infected bench had 1⅔, barbell

had 1, kettlebell had 2, and weight had ⅓. The disinfected plates had ⅓ for bench, 0 for barbell,

⅔ for kettlebell and ⅓ for weight. I tested the effectiveness of different cleaners. Using a sterile

toothpick, I pricked a bacteria colony and swirled it in saline solution, grew it on a masterplate,

and moved the bacteria to an agar plate. After sitting in the incubator, I measured the ring

around the paper disks to determine effectiveness. This proved Whizzer was more effective

than EnvirOx H2Orange2 Concentrate 117, and the cleaners Cleancore Aqueous Ozone Solution

and Betco Symplicity Sanibet Multi-Range had no significant impact on bacteria growth.

Which species of protist algae works best for creating biofuels S-44

Ethan Rogers & Blaine Pleak


Algae is one of the most diverse species on the planet and can survive in virtually every

environment that contains moisture. Fascination in this topic inspired us to follow the path of

this experiment. Not only does algae supply food for larger organisms , can take excess CO2 out

of the air, and is an incredible source of energy. We decided to take this topic to the next level

by starting our experiment. As already stated, algae takes CO2 from air and converts it into

energy. In order for enough energy to be available, there needs to be a large quantity of CO2

available in the air. This is where biofuels come into play. Algae farms are used by scientists to

create biofuels. The algae is "fed" CO2 in excess amounts and then convert it into a renewable

energy source that emits virtually no waste. Hypothetically, scientists could cut carbon

emissions in half. We wanted to simulate an algae farm using three types of protist algae.

Chlamydomonas, Chlorella, and Cyclotella. Three beakers of water connected to each algae

solution was our control group, and three beakers connected to an experimental group

containing yeast, sugar and algae. We measured the six algae groups once every 24 hours in an

attempt to determine which algae would be the best for creating biofuel. After nine days and

54 measurements, a winner was determined. Cyclotella showed the largest percentage of

growth, Chlamydomonas in second, and Chlorella in last.

Staphylococcus and Fecal Coliforms on Shopping Cart Handles S-45

Savannah Harper & Bryn Lang


It’s well known that shopping carts house millions of bacteria, but how could these potentially

harmful bacteria affect one’s health? Although shopping cart handles are viewed as and have

been proven to be one of the most highly contaminated public surfaces, few people practice

proper hygiene and/or take precautions when using shopping carts. Unfortunately, little

research has been conducted and little data is available regarding the bacterial contamination

of shopping carts. Therefore, our purpose for conducting this experiment was to further

understand bacterial contamination relating to public health. By displaying our results, we wish

to promote improved hygiene and sanitation. In our experiment, we specifically tested for

certain species of bacteria on shopping cart handles. Based on our research, we chose

Staphylococcus and fecal coliforms as the best fit bacteria to select for. We hypothesized that

we would detect both Staphylococcus and fecal coliforms at selected stores. We collected

specimens from a total of nine stores throughout three cities. We collected two swab samples

from each studied cart, totaling ninety samples. After collecting the swabs, we transported

them to a BSL-2 laboratory to be plated. One swab from each studied cart was spread onto a

Mannitol Salt Agar plate to be cultured, and the second swab was spread onto an Eosin

Methylene Blue Agar plate. They were then placed in an incubator for forty-eight hours. After

the bacteria grew for the elapsed time, the results confirmed our hypothesis in detecting

Staphylococcus and fecal matter bacteria on shopping cart handles.

The Interaction between the Bacteria Isolated from Helaeomyia petrolei and Candida S-46

albicans: An Investigation into the Oil Fly Bacteria

Jacob Mack


This study was conducted to determine whether bacteria that reside in the oil fly, Helaeomyia

petrolei, produce antimicrobial secondary metabolites that inhibit growth of Candida albicans.

Bacteria from Helaeomyia petrolei were chosen due to lack of previous research, and because

in the only previous study, certain strains of the bacteria were resistant to antibiotics. It was

hypothesized that due to this resistance the bacteria itself might produce antimicrobials. To

determine which bacterial strains to test, 40 strains were grown in competition with Candida

albicans. Zones of inhibition were observed for 14 strains. These strains were grown in liquid

agar and a supernatant-soaked disk was placed on a lawn of Candida albicans. Although when

the bacteria itself was grown with the fungus, zones of inhibition were shown, the supernatant

tests resulted in no zones of inhibition. This is likely because the bacteria evolved in an

environment without Candida albicans, and had no need to combat it. The bacteria may have

created a zone of inhibition when grown on the plate with the fungus because it simply grew

faster than the fungus. One unexpected, significant finding was that during the pilot tests, we

used sodium selenite to prevent bacteria from overtaking the plate, and found that 37 of 40

strains were able to reduce sodium selenite into elemental selenium, a less toxic state. If we are

diligent about exploring the untapped potential for human use of bacteria such as H. petrolei,

we are sure to find useful traits of these unique bacteria.

The Effects of Smudging on the Bacteria in the Air S-47

Julieanne Gallion


I conducted an experiment on the antibacterial properties of plant smoke because of the need

to find an alternative to harsh chemicals for killing bacteria. The purpose of this study was to

determine whether the smoke of different plants can reduce the bacteria in the air. I wanted to

know if, in their smudging rituals, the native people had found a way to kill bacteria without

even knowing it. I used bundles of dried sage and corn husks. I opened ten Petri dishes and lit

one of the plants on fire. After waiting five minutes I closed the Petri dishes and placed them in

an incubator and waited 48 hours. I then recorded data and disposed of the Petri dishes. There

was a slight difference in the number of colonies in the dishes exposed to sage, corn, and the

control, which was exposed to no smoke. The dishes exposed to sage had a slightly lower

number of bacterial colonies. The slight difference between the groups was not large enough to

be statistically significant or support my hypothesis. My data does not mean that sage doesn't

work for killing bacteria. It just means that the random sample I had, didn't provide enough

evidence to support that the smoke of plants kills bacteria. In the future, I would like to see if

the placement of the Petri dishes makes a difference. I would like to place the Petri dishes

above the smoke instead of below.

Mold Growth on Thanksgiving Leftovers Over Time S-48

Jenna Strampher


This science fair experience is over what happens when you leave your Thanksgiving dinner out

on the counter and how much bacteria will grow on it every hour you leave it out. This science

fair project is important because when people it the food that is left on the counter, people

don’t know how long it’s been sitting out, and how much bacteria has grown during that time

period. The question asked for this experiment is, " Will food left out over 2 hours grow more

bacteria faster after 1 hour?”. The hypothesis tested for this experiment is, “If food is left out

for more than 2 hours, then more bacteria will grow faster and divide easier.” The results of this

science fair project are that the longer the agar plates sit in the room, the more bacteria grows

over time. So in conclusion, the hypothesis tested for this experiment was proven true. How

this was proven true is that the room used for the experiment was set at the same temperature

for all 8 hours at a temperature of 87˚F. And if changing the control environment, which was

the room the Petri dishes were in, the temperature to a higher setting could have increased the

bacteria growth or a lower setting could have decreased the bacteria growth.

Category 12 - Physics and Astronomy

The Effect of Waste Products, Natural Fibers, and Recycled Materials on Sound Absorption S-49

Eric Lenz


The purpose of this experiment was to see if recycled and natural materials could be used

productively in absorbing sound. I predicted that the use of waste products, natural fibers, and

recycled materials would have an effect on sound absorption. I chose this project because

sound attenuation is an often overlooked aspect in architecture and it provides a great

opportunity to put recycled materials to productive use. Each material (wool, shredded rubber,

corn husks, home insulation, and plastic bags) was placed respectively in PVC tees at the end of

a three foot pipe. A tone was projected, and sound pressure reflecting off of the material was

measured. The materials with the lower recorded mean sound pressures are the materials best

at absorbing sound. Lighter, more porous materials were found to be better at absorbing

sound. The materials that were best at absorbing sound were the corn husks and sheep wool. A

possible explanation for their successful attenuation is because they are very light materials,

especially in comparison with other tested materials. To extend this study it would be

interesting to test a wider variety of waste and recycled materials.

Category 13 – Plant Sciences

Boosting Soybean Growth Using Calcium Hydroxide and Aluminium Sulfate S-50

Tyson Kerr & Devon Ackles


Glycine max (soybeans) are an important crop in Nebraska. Soybeans are legumes put in the Nebraska

crop rotation to replenish nitrogen taken out by corn in the soil. This happens because bacteria lives on

the roots of soybean plants. Other uses for soybeans include human and animal food, oil, and biodiesel

production. This study’s purpose was to find the optimal pH range for soybeans. This would increase the

yield and improve the quality of products. Soil pH was adjusted with Aluminium Sulfate and Calcium

Hydroxide chemicals. We diluted the powder so altering the pH was easier and more accurate. Three

cups of soil were made for three different levels of pH. Three soybeans were planted per cup. Each plant

was watered the same amount, as well as the pH of every cup monitored and altered accordingly. The

unaltered pH (5.5) had the highest average growth. The soybeans in the “optimal” pH level (6.3) were

the healthiest. The plants in the lowest pH (5.2) grew the least; they also developed weak stems and

leaves. The optimal pH (6.3) produced the highest quality of soybeans as well as the best soil, but it did

not grow as fast as the unaltered pH (5.5). We believe this is because less bacteria were present to limit

the total nutrient intake of the soybean plant in the optimal soil (6.3).

The Effects of Temperature on Corn (Zea Mays) Germination S-51

Nathan Anderson & Chance Mignery


Planting at the right time of the year has always been on farmers minds. Most farmers think the

earlier the better without testing the temperature of theirs soils. Planting too early can lead to

seeds not germinating meaning a major loss in yield. The purpose of this experiment was to test

the effects of temperature on corn germination.. This was achieved by soaking 150 seeds of

corn for 24 hours. Seeds were then separated into groups of 10 seeds. Each group was then

placed in a petri dish. A wet paper towel was then placed on the seeds and the lid was placed

on right afterwards. 3 groups were tested in each different environment. The temperature at

which the seeds tested were 45, 48, 52, 57-60, and 72 degrees fahrenheit. After 5 days, the

number of seeds that germinated was counted. After the results had been gathered, it was

found that 0% of the corn at temperatures below 52 degrees germinated. Also it was found that

100% of the seeds at 52 degrees fahrenheit germinated. With the results of this study, it can be

determined that the temperature of which corn can germinate at is between 48 degrees and 52

degrees fahrenheit. If a farmer plants his crop when the soil temperature is below 49 degrees

fahrenheit, then the seed will only absorb water until the temperature rises enough for the

corn to germinate. If the temperature doesn’t rise, the seed will just sit in the seedbed exposed

to potential threats. These threats can lead to poor emergence, which will cost the farmer

money. If the germination rate is too low, then the farmer will have to replant. The seed alone

will cost the farmer $118 per acre(n.a, 2017). Therefore, farmers are better off to wait to plant

their crop until the soil is 52 degrees Fahrenheit or higher so that the seed can germinate right

away, mitigating the threat of having to replant.

Does Electromagnetic Radiation from Wireless Routers Affect Growth? S-52

Claire Kiolbasa & Julianna Zubrod


The purpose of our experiment was to determine whether or not the electromagnetic radiation

from wireless routers affects growth. In our experiment, we used lettuce seeds. Our hypothesis

was that the seeds places next to an active router would grow less than the ones not exposed.

We put the seeds into Petri dishes and placed four dishes by an active router, and four in a

different room. We proceeded to measure the growth of the seeds every day. Our results,

however, didn't support our hypothesis. There was no clear evidence that there was a

difference between the seeds that grew next to the router and the ones that grew in a different

room.

What is the Effect of Green Light on Brassica Rapa S-53

Eve Baldwin


This project was about the effect of green light on the growth of plants. I wanted to see

whether a different color of glass could be more beneficial to plant growth than the typical

clear glass in greenhouses. I created green light by using green cellophane. I hypothesized that

germination would be unaffected, and the plants would be taller and a darker green color when

exposed to the green light. Eight control plants were tested under clear cellophane and eight

experimental plants were tested under green cellophane. I took germination six days after

sowing, and stem length, and plant color data on days 6, 10, 16, 20. The germination hypothesis

was supported because it was found that green light had no effect on germination. The stem

length hypothesis was not supported because there was a negative effect on the stem length,

possibly because etiolation caused the experimental plants to grow tall and spindly, weakening

the stems and causing them the bend. The plant color hypothesis was not supported because

the experimental plants were a lighter green color than the control plants. This may have been

because lack of proper wavelengths of light interfered with the production of chlorophyll,

causing chlorosis. Chlorosis is an abnormal reduction or loss of the normal green coloration of

leaves of plants. For future research I would like to test blue light. This type of research is

important because improving plant growth is imperative to gardeners or others who may profit

from plant production.

The Effect of Crude Oil on Wisconsin Fast Plants S-54

Taryn Wagner


This project was about seeing if crude oil would have an effect on plants when put in the soil.

Crude oil is used to make gasoline and it comes from remains of plants and animals. I wanted to

test crude oil because it is an oil that could naturally be found in the environment, and I wanted

to see if it would affect the plants. I hypothesized that if crude oil was added to the soil, less

seeds will germinate, the stems will be shorter, and the color will be a lighter green than the

seeds only given water. Eight control and experimental plants were tested. Germination data

was taken once. Plant height and color were taken four times. The germination hypothesis was

supported because it was found that crude oil had a negative effect on germination. This may

have been because crude oil is a very toxic chemical and it is thicker than water, so it may have

depleted the seed of oxygen, and interfered with absorption of water by osmosis. The stem

length hypothesis was supported because there was a negative effect on the stem length. This

may have been because crude oil affected the plant hormones that are important to plant

growth. The plants could have become infected with bacteria, fungi, or viruses because crude

oil is a very toxic chemical that weakened the plant’s defenses. The plant color hypothesis was

neither supported or rejected by the data.

The Effect of Amoxicillin on Wisconsin Fast Plants S-55

Akela Matthiessen


This project was about the effect amoxicillin has on plants. Wisconsin Fast Plants were used.

Wisconsin Fast Plants are designed to grow fast and in large quantities in small space.

Amoxicillin is used to treat many different types of infections. I wanted to test amoxicillin

because medicines are sometimes released into the environment. The question being asked

was “What is the effect of antibiotics on plants?" The hypothesis on germination was if

antibiotics are added to the soil more seeds will germinate than seeds that were not given

antibiotics. The hypothesis on stem length was if plants are given antibiotics, their stems will

grow taller than plants not given antibiotics. The hypothesis on plant color was if plants are

given antibiotics the plants will be a darker green than the plants not given antibiotics. Eight

control and eight experimental plants were tested. The experimental plants were planted in soil

with amoxicillin added. Germination data was taken once. Plant height and color were taken

four times. The germination and plant color hypotheses were supported by the data because it

was found that amoxicillin had a positive effect on germination. This may have been because

the antibiotic killed harmful bacteria. The stem length hypothesis was supported by the data

because there was a positive effect on the stem length. This may have been because the plant

wasn’t introduced to harmful bacteria that could cause diseases or viruses.

An Investigation of Plant Signalling Through Volatiles When Exposed to Water Contaminants S-56

Kane VonBonn


The purpose of this experiment was to see if plants could communicate through the air. Plants

emit volatiles to quickly signal danger to other plant parts. Volatiles can affect growth of nearby

plants, so I wanted to see if exposing plants to lead would have an effect on plants that were in

the same sealed enclosure that were not exposed to lead. I put two sets of bean plants in

environmental chambers and placed the plants in a hydroponic system with Hoagland solution.

I measured dry biomass and counted leaf nodes. I also collected volatiles within the enclosures

using traps and air pumps. There was no significant difference in the dry biomass or number of

leaf node of each group of plants. I believe that the small amount of lead used was not enough

to affect the plants growth, but the volatiles collected from plants with lead toxicity showed

peaks on a gas chromatogram that are either barely seen, or not seen at all in the volatile

collection for plants without lead toxicity. According to the NIST database, the gas

chromatography peaks fell into four classes of volatile emissions: fatty acid derivatives, amino

acid derivatives, phenylpropanoid and benzenoid compounds, and terpenes. If I repeated my

study I would test different amounts of lead on plants to determine the threshold over which

lead does affect plant growth. This type of study is important because it may be helpful in

further understanding the way plants cope with environmental stress.

The Effect of Origin of Plants and Trees on Insect Use S-57

Dyson Kunz


I did this experiment because I became interested in non-native species and their effect on the

environment. I live near a hotspot for plants of all types, the Platte River. The Platte River

ecosystem contains a variety of plants, including both native and non-native varieties. I

hypothesized that the native plants would experience more usage by insects because the

insects are more accustomed to using them. I placed three yellow sticky traps on a Russian

Olive Tree, a Hackberry Tree, Phragmites, and Reed Canary Grass three feet from the ground on

June 23 and then again on July 25. The traps were collected 14 days after they were placed on

the plants. I used a transparent grid and a hand lense to count the number of insects on each

trap. The average number of insects for each type of plant was calculated. The data collected

supported the hypothesis that the origin of the plant would affect the amount of insects that

visit them. There were more insects collected on the native plants than their non-native

counterparts. This was especially true with the Hackberry Tree, which had significantly more

insects on it than the non-native grass and tree, Phragmites and Russian Olive. It would be

interesting to continue this research with different colored traps, identification of insects, or on

a wider variety of invasive species.

The Effect of Well Water Content on Geogenic Contaminants in Garden Vegetables S-58

Lillian Kyes


This study was performed to see if there is a correlation between contaminant concentration in

well water and same contaminant in plant tissue. I grew green bean and pepper plants and

watered them with well water in three different locations. When the plants were ripe with fruit

they were bagged and sent to UNL Water Laboratory to be analyzed for uranium, arsenic, and

selenium. Soil and water samples from each plot were analyzed for the same minerals. The

amount of arsenic gradually decreased as it went from the water, to the roots, to the stem, and

finally with the least amount in the fruit in both the peppers and beans. The highest amount of

selenium in the plant tissue was in the root, followed by the fruit, and finally the lowest amount

in the stem. I concluded that if the irrigation water has more contaminants, chances of uptake

are also more and its translocation to edible part is higher. My hypothesis was supported

because there was some correlation between the amount of the contaminant in the water to

the amount in the plant tissue. To continue this research I would like to try potatoes and onions

since the plant part that is eaten is underground. This research is important because we need to

know if contaminants in our water is making our food unsafe to eat.

The Effect of Camphor Essential Oil on Wisconsin Fast Plants S-59

Kortney Hamer


This project was about the effect of camphor essential oil on plants. Camphor essential oil is

used in many cough suppressants and medical ointments. Camphor comes from the camphor

tree of Asia, where it is steamed from the bark or root stumps. I wanted to test camphor

essential oil because it is known to have health benefits for humans, so I wanted to see if it

would do the same for plants. The hypothesis stated that if exposed to camphor oil, more

plants would germinate, the stems would be shorter, and the plants would be a lighter color.

The germination hypothesis was not supported by the data because it was found that camphor

essential oil had a negative effect on germination. This may have been because the camphor

inhibited the seeds’ ability to shed its seed coat. The stem length hypothesis was not supported

by the data because there was a positive effect on the stem length. This may have been

because terpenoids are associated with plastids in plants that are involved in food production

and storage. The plant color hypothesis was not supported by the data because there was a no

effect on plant color. The camphor didn’t appear to hinder the production of chlorophyll.

The Effect of Egg Shells on Wisconsin Fast Plants S-60

Abigail Curfman


This project was about the effect of egg shells in the soil on plants. The hypothesis was, if egg

shells are added to the soil, more seeds will germinate, the stem lengths will be taller, and the

plants will be a lighter green color. Eight control and eight experimental plants were tested.

They were planted in styrofoam quads. The experimental plants were planted in soil containing

crushed up eggshells. Germination data was taken once. Plant height and color were taken four

times. The germination hypothesis was supported because it was found that egg shells had a

positive effect on germination. This may have been because eggshells contain calcium, and

calcium is very important for plants to grow. Calcium helps to maintain the chemical balance in

the soil and helps with transpiration which helps the plants grow overall. The stem length

hypothesis was supported because there was a positive effect on stem length. This may have

been because of all the calcium in the shells. Calcium is one of the most important things that a

plant needs to grow. The plant color hypothesis was not supported because there was no effect

on plant color. This may have been because here wasn’t anything negative in the soil or

anything added to the water that would affect chlorophyll production.

The effect of Hexavalent Chromium on Wisconsin Fast Plants S-61

Elijah Greger


This project was about the effect of hexavalent chromium on plants. Hexavalent chromium is

used on industrial equipment to help it resist rust and it is put on to metals to get a ¨chrome”

finish. I wanted to test hexavalent chromium because because it is a carcinogen and has

dangerous effects on humans, I wanted to see if those effects cross over into plants. The

hypothesis was if chromium is added to the water less seeds will germinate, the stems will be

shorter and the plants will be a lighter color. Eight plants in each experimental group were

tested. The experimental plants were watered with three different concentrations of

hexavalent chromium. The germination hypothesis was supported by the data because it was

found that hexavalent chromium had a negative effect on germination at the highest potency.

This may have been due to the carcinogenic properties of chromium. The stem length

hypothesis was not supported. This may have been because a higher concentration of

chromium is necessary to see an affect. The plant color hypothesis was supported by the data

because there was a negative effect on plant color. The plants ended up yellowish and light in

color. This may have been because chromium is a pollutant.

The Effect of Prenatal Vitamins on Wisconsin Fast Plants S-62

Olivia Brummet


This project was about the effect of prenatal vitamins on plants. Prenatal vitamins help fill in

nutritional gaps of a pregnant woman and prevent birth defects. Prenatal vitamins contain

many things including folic acid, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, vitamin

E, zinc, and iron. I hypothesized if prenatal vitamins were added to the water, more seeds

would germinate, stem lengths would be taller, and plant color would be darker. Eight control

and eight experimental plants were tested. The germination hypothesis was not supported

because it was found that prenatal vitamins had a negative effect on germination. This may

have been because prenatal vitamins can affect hormonal balances, and may have caused the

plant’s hormones to become unbalanced, leading to reduced germination. When plants

germinate, they begin to metabolize, and B6 affects metabolism, so it may have interfered with

the break down of the endosperm. The stem length hypothesis was not supported because

there was a negative effect on stem length. The increased iron in the soil may have caused root

insufficiency, reduced soil aeration, and imbalance of other nutrients a plant needs like zinc and

manganese. Algae and mold that grew on the soil could have caused the plants to become

infected and stunt the growth. The plant color hypothesis was supported because there was a

positive effect on plant color. This may have been because stems were shorter, and contained

smaller less dense cells, causing the appearance of the plant to be darker in color.

The Effect of Biochar on the Growth of Field Corn and the Retention of Soil Nutrients S-63

Austin Wells


This research was conducted to determine the effects of biochar on the growth of field corn. I chose to

do my experiment on this subject because agriculture is an important part of life in Nebraska, and

farmers across the state are looking for ways to improve yield while keeping our natural resources safe. I

predicted that the corn grown in biochar would have a greater height than those without biochar. The

prediction was also made that the soil in the pots with biochar would retain more nutrients. The

experiment was conducted by filling 10 pots each with sandy soil, sandy soil and biochar, loamy soil, and

loamy soil and biochar. A soil sample was taken from three pots of each soil type and the seeds were

then planted. The seed germination was recorded on day 17 and stem length was taken every 10 days

after that for 57 days. At the end of 57 days, three soil samples were again taken for each soil type as

well as a plant tissue sample for loamy soil. The hypothesis that the biochar would cause a significant

difference in plant height was supported. The average height of the plants grown in the loamy soil was

significantly higher than that of the plants grown with biochar. The average nutrient amounts for the soil

and plant tissue were also greater in the regular loamy soil; however, after running an ANOVA test it was

found that some nutrients had a significant difference while others did not.

Plant recycling using scraps S-64

McKenzie Ostdiek & Jessie Himmelberg


For our 2019 Science Fair we did a project on plant recycling using scraps. What we did was

take “kitchen” scraps from multiple plants, then planted them in individual containers to see

what would grow from their scraps. We were also looking to see how well these plants would

grow, if they would grow at all. With our project we were able to solve the question of which

plants can be regrown from their scraps and we were also able to see how quickly they will

grow. The last thing that we were able to see is how after they sprouted how quickly they grew.

This was a successful project and taught us many valuable things about plants. If we were to do

this again then we would most likely make a few changes, but all in all our process worked well.

Another thing was, that if we had more time we may have had more results. We may also have

been able to see if our bell peppers or other plants would have started growing or grown more.

Considering all the obstacles we faced, our project turned out and we were able to gather

enough results. A lot of the plants did either regrow or germinate. It was quite the thrill to walk

into the greenhouse and see a new plant that has just sprouted.

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