by Julie Mueller, Garretson Middle School Science Teacher
Sixty-six students representing 32 projects participated in this year’s Garretson Middle School Science Fair. In the Animal Science division, with a project titled "Musical Horses", *Abrianna Doppenberg, *Lacey Lumpkin and *Cadence Magnuson were 1st and Blue ribbon winners and the Grand Champion Animal Science project. This trio of students checked to see what different genres of music did to the pulse rate of a test group of four horses. Second Place, blue ribbon, and Reserve Champion in Animal Science went to *Cade Uhlich. His project "Does Fat and Fiber Content Affect Egg Quality?” was a study in varying feed rations to the home flock.
There were three projects in the Behavioral Science category. First place, blue ribbon, and category Grand Champions were Adisynn Fink, Makayla Heesch. and Bryn Swatek with "Are Childproof Containers Realty Childproof?”. They partnered up with the Garretson Academy to conduct their project. Second place, red ribbon, and Reserve Category Champion was Brooklyn Roberts. Her project was titled “Scaredy Cat?" and honed in on people’s fears. Third place and White ribbon went to “What Do People Find Most Frustrating" by Caleb Roth.
Biochemistry was the largest category this year. We had a tie for 1st place, blue ribbon, and Biochemistry Grand Champion project. *Jade Bertotti’s "Which Liquid WilI Keep Apples the Freshest?" and “How Greasy are Your Potato Chips?" by *Lane Ellefson and *Martin Welch claimed those honors. With "Vegan vs. Non-Vegan Cake”, the trio of *Nora Bonte‚ *Addison Hove, and *Aleah Wagner were 2nd place, blue ribbon, and Reserve Category Champions. Third place and red ribbon went to *Allison Gawarecki, *Alexis Gawarecki, and *Jordyn Williams with “Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda". Their project demonstrated that there is a difference when baking. Fourth and red ribbon was awarded to Kaelyn Braun, Mia Christensen, and Maci Rotert with "Is There a Difference in Cupcake Brands?" and fifth place and red went to Kassidy DeBates and Kaylin Leedy’s “Which Brand of Popcorn is Best?". Earning white ribbons and 6th place was Tori Gehrke and Audra Genzler’s “How Does Different Flour Affect Cookies?". Seventh place were Treyton Chester and Tyler Edmundson's “Do Bananas Give Birth to Maggots?" and Deborah Stowe and Maiya Strand's "Which Tastes Better, Homemade or Out of the Box?".
The Chemistry division was won by *Hannah Frewaldt and *Sydney Olson's “The Burning Truth: Color Candles vs. White Candles". They received a blue ribbon and Category Grand Champion. Earning a red ribbon and category Reserve was Madison Lumpkin with “How Much Salt Does It Take to Make an Egg Float?". Third and red ribbon went to “Lemon Power” by Ben DeLoera. He was looking at how many lemons are needed to light a lightbulb. Fourth and white ribbon went to Calvin Larson and Noah Schotzko with a project titled “What Will Happen if We Put Candies in Liquids?" This project demonstrated the properties of diffusion.
There were two projects in the Engineering category and First, blue ribbon, and Grand Champion Engineering project went to *Dmitriy Sysa's “How to Become Unpopular Very Fast with an EMP". *Sage Solheim and *Dylan Wolf's project “Tic Tac and the Toe” earned second place, blue ribbon, and Reserve Engineering project.
*Eliza Potter was first place, blue ribbon, and Grand Champion in the area of Medicine and Health with her project, “What do Different Beverages Do to Your Teeth?". Second place, blue ribbon, and Reserve in the category went to *Tayler Benson, *Ava Nordstrom, and *lsabella Sysa's "Is the Water You are Drinking Safe?". Third place and Blue ribbon was awarded to “How Does Smoking Affect Your Lungs?" by *Cash Pullman and *Blaine Trower. "Pepsi vs. Coke - Which is Worse for Your Teeth?" by Treyton Decker, Cody Facile, and Riley Lafferty-Mack took Fourth place and red ribbon. "Which Gum Lasts the Longest?" by Ashley Harris and Charli Jo Peterson earned 5th and white‚ and “Does Smell Affect Taste?" by Landon Bakker and Cole Jessen came in sixth and white ribbon. “Which Bread Molds Fastest?" by Kylie Christensen and Adair Hanisch were awarded a white in Microbiology.
First Place, blue ribbon, and Physics Grand Champion went to *Carsten Rozeboom and *Caleb Westerbur's “What is the Best Arm Length for a Catapult?" while Second, blue ribbon, and Reserve Champion went to *Kaitlyn Steinhoff’s “Do Some Liquids Expand More Than Others When Frozen?” Third place and red ribbon went to “What Type of Shotgun Shell Has the Greatest Spread?" by Jakob Gnadt and Colin Shellum. Earning 4th, 5th, and 6th place and whites in order were Scott Knebel Koster and Michael Olson with “How Far Can You Throw a Ball?”, Wyatt Fry, Jesus Gonzalez, and Aiden Scott with “KINK vs. Walmart BMX”; and “What Materials are Needed to Prevent an Egg from Cracking?" by Brock Bonte, Tyler Erickson, and Joshua Gilbert.
This year's Overall Honorable Mention was awarded to Eliza Potter, daughter of Bruce and Laura Potter. Overall Reserve Grand Champion went to Jade Bertotti, daughter of John and Reesa Bertotti, and the Overall Grand Champion Middle School Science Fair Honors went to Dmitriy Sysa, son of Ivan and Victoria Sysa.
Students with an asterisk (*) will advance to the Eastern South Dakota Science and Engineering Fair to be held on Tuesday, March 24 at SDSU. Judges for the event this year were Keara Beck, Evan Bly, Jill Ellefson, Brad Farrell, Geof Furness, Mikaela Gilbert, Ruth Saraar, and Kylie Uhl.
