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Show - - For these students there is life after the science fair: Their projects keep winning honors. They are (front row) Amy Belk, Heidi Frerichs, Rachelle Argyle and Stacey Jacobson; (back row) Kirsten Clark, Chris Eisenberg, Robbie Smith and Matt Smith, photo by Nan Chalal Science fair projects evolve into regional winners byNanChalat When this year's high school science fair was over, most of the participants packed up their projects and stashed them away in a dusty corner of the attic. But some of the students weren't ready to quit. They tore apart their entries and rebuilt them from the ground up. They refined their experiments, spiffed up the presentations and entered them in the regional fairs at Utah Technical College and Weber State University. And to their surprise ( but not their teachers') they won awards at both events, even though the competition was tougher than at their school fair. Out of 400 entries representing 23 schools at the Metro Regional Science Fair held at Utah Technical College last week, Robbie Smith's research on the aeolian effect won first place in the physicial science division. He also won second place in a special category of awards given by the Hercules Corporation. Last year Smith started experimenting with the aeolian effect the vibration caused by wind passing by a cylinder. After building his own wind tunnel and testing its effects on a variety of cylinders, he thinks he has finally found a way to control the aeolian effect. He may want to pass some of his expertise along to the space program. Meanwhile Chris Eisenberg was busy impressing the judges of the biology division. He won second place with a project that illustrated man's evolution from apes. Eisenberg said he became interested in man's relationship to apes when he heard about Koko, an ape that has been learning language and recently told her trainer that she was sad about the death of her pet cat. "After all, : reasoning and emotions were the only things which supposedly set man apart from apes," Eisenberg said. Matt Smith's solar energy experiment earned a first-place award in the marine science category. Smith carefully recorded the varied temperature increases of different colored fluids and said the results may have some practical applications for future energy-saving energy-saving devices. During spring break in March, Rachelle Argyle, Amy Belk, Stacey Jacobson and Heidi Frerichs took their refurbished science fair projects to the Weber Regional Fair. Belk's display, which illustrated the aerodynamic properties of penguins, won fourth place in zoology and Jacobson's project on the effects of soda pop on tooth enamel won first place in a special category sponsored by the Utah Dental Society. Argyle won a distinction as Freshman Scientist of the Year for her research on color and taste correlations. The project also earned fourth place in the behavioral sciences category. Although Kirsten Clark and Heidi Frerich's projects on color perception and acid snow were winners at the school fair, they didn't place in the regionals. But the undaunted scientists will no doubt be back next year to compete again. Park City High School science teacher Linda Preston said she is hoping the school will host a regional science fair next year. "I'd like to do it because it gives our students a chance to compete for a trip to the international competition. "Next year it will be held in Texas, but the one they (the students) are really excited about is the next one, which will be held in Puerto Rico," she said. |