Three Pulaski County students were recently recognized for excellence for their efforts at the 2023 Blue Ridge Highlands Regional Science Fair, held at Radford University March 4.
The Pulaski County students, who are members of the Southwest Virginia Governor’s School, were joined by students from nine other schools in the list of awards, including students from Galax, Radford, Narrows, Christiansburg, Fort Chiswell, Floyd County, Eastern Montgomery, Carroll County, and George Wythe high schools.
Junior James Paine, son of Gina and William Paine, received the most recognition for the day with five awards. He earned a third-place finish in the Earth and Environmental/Plant Sciences category. Paine also received four Special Awards during the event. He was recognized with the Mount Tabor Ruritan Club Award, the United States Environmental Protection Agency Award, The United States Stockholm Junior Water Prizes Award, and the Virginia Lakes and Watershed Award.
Paine conducted a study titled “Testing the Efficacy of an Aquatic Aerator.”
In his project summary, it states, “When bodies of water, such as ponds, remain stagnant, their waters will begin to stratify, meaning they will separate into layers based on temperature, density, and oxygen content. This may contribute negatively to the pond’s health. Aerators are used to remedy stratification by circulating the water and providing consistency and stability to the aquatic ecosystem. A neighborhood pond was connected via an underground pipe to Claytor Lake. An aerator was installed in hopes of improving its water quality. The aerator was deactivated and subsequent measurements of dissolved oxygen and total nitrogen were taken at five designated sites for a five-week period. The purpose of the experiment was to determine how effective the aerator was at improving the pond’s water quality and if more provisions needed to be enacted. A dissolved oxygen sensor and kit were used to periodically evaluate changes over time. Total nitrogen concentration was determined through a calibration curve. Oxygen was analyzed through linear regressions and an ANOVA test, discovering a moderate to weak correlation relative to turning off the aerator. A significant p = 0.0005 suggested that Claytor Lake, the control, had less oxygen than the pond on average. A matched-pairs t-test was performed on nitrogen samples to determine a significant difference before and after aerator deactivation. With p = 0.0049, an increase in nitrogen was suggested; however, the change was not as prominent for Claytor Lake. In future experiments, more data and more precise equipment will be required.”
Junior Laken Barnette, daughter of Karen and Samuel Barnette, was recognized twice in the event. She started by earned first-place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category. In the Special Awards, she was recognized with the American Psychological Association Award.
Barnette conducted a study titled “Evaluating Comfort Levels in Teenage Patients when Talking to a Physician about Sensitive Topics.”
In her project summary, it states, “The study of adolescent patients and their perceived comfort levels will further address comfort concerns to improve the quality of care received. While certain factors were known to cause changes in comfort, such as the gender of the physician and the additional presence of a family member or medical professional, few studies focused solely on patients of adolescent age. To determine if these factors and the gender of the adolescent patients influence comfort, a survey, composed of 5 scenarios in which the participant was asked to rate their comfort talking to a physician about a sensitive topic, was given to a sample of 52 participants 15 to 18 years of age. Furthermore, the null hypothesis tested was that the gender and comfort of adolescent patients when talking to a physician about a sensitive topic, depending on an outside factor, are independent. Additionally, the alternate hypothesis was that gender and comfort among adolescent patients when talking to a physician about a sensitive topic, depending on an outside factor, are dependent. To test the hypotheses, a Chi-Squared Test of Independence and corresponding p-values were calculated. The p-values for the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth scenarios of the survey were 0.4603, 0.1446, 0.6386, 0.0292, and 0.0054, respectively, all of which used a corresponding alpha value of 0.05. Therefore, the results of the first three scenarios of the survey were not significant, so the null hypothesis was not rejected for those scenarios. However, the results of the last two scenarios were significant, so the null hypothesis was rejected. The conclusion was that the gender of the patient and the level of comfort talking to a physician, with the others present, were independent, in addition to the gender of the patient, and the level of comfort talking to a physician of a particular gender was dependent. The application of the results may include asking, before a consultation, if there is a preference for the gender of the physician they will see, or if anything could be done to increase patient comfort.”
Senior Aaron Bennett, son of April and David Bennett, earned second-place in the Materials Science category.
Bennett conducted a study titled “Can Aerographite be Used as an External Material in Rocketry.”
In his project summary it states, “Aerographite (AG) is a new material that is comprised of a structure of carbon nanotubes, which creates a material that is both light and strong. AG is made by freeze drying, which is where a solution is frozen in a cold bath, then the solvents are removed by sublimation in a vacuum. What remains is the structure of the original solution, which makes it so light and strong. While AG is a good insulator and is strong, it is not airtight. This means that for use in rocketry, a thin layer of material that is airtight will need to be attached, which will not add much weight. The material properties of AG match well with the properties that are desired for rockets. To determine if the material is strong enough to withstand the amount of pressure at launch, rods of AG were tested to determine the maximum pressure that could be withstood. This was done using a hydraulic press, slowly adding pressure, about 30 pounds per second, to the AG until it broke. The material shattered, making a sound similar to that of glass breaking. The values obtained were then tested against a constant pressure that rockets typically experience during launch. The average pressure the rods experienced before breaking was 46.5 Megapascals and the constant they were compared to was 30 Megapascals. The p-value from the T-Test was 0.0001, which is well within the range of significance. Future work with AG may look at options for a skin to keep the rocket airtight, or how the structural soundness might change with different heights of rockets.”
Other categories that students entered into included Biomedical and Health Sciences/Cellular and Molecular Biology; Biomedical Engineering; Chemistry; Embedded Systems/Systems Software; Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics; Mathematics; Microbiology; and Physics and Astronomy.
Five students were invited to participate in the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair. Those students include Laken Barnette of Pulaski County; Jesse Dulaney of Floyd County; Emma Ebel of Fort Chiswell; Havva Gasimova of Radford; James Helmick of Carroll County; Davis Reitzel of Carroll County; and Andy Tawney of Narrows.
All three PCPS students will be recognized at the May meeting of the Pulaski County School Board.