NewRoFoundation

They explored the damage viruses inflict on the heart, found that thyme can grow in the dark and proved a great-grandmother’s kitchen tip that an unlit match can help a cook cut an onion without shedding tears.

 

Those were just some of the 28 research projects from 30 City School District of New Rochelle students who presented their research in New Rochelle’s Second Annual Science Research Fair. Featuring students in fourth through eighth grades, the fair was held on Zoom last Saturday. Visitors hopped from room to room, learning a thing or two about medicine, the environment or physics before moving to the next.

 

Albert Leonard Middle School eighth-grader Eva Singletary, an aspiring cardiothoracic surgeon, probed viruses in the heart’s three layers: the pericardium, the myocardium and the endocardium. She looked at the afflictions that cause swelling of the layers.

 

“Endocarditis is the most serious,” she said. “The farther you go into the heart, the more dangerous it is.”

 

Isaac E. Young Middle School sixth-grader Alivia Smith learned that thyme plants will grow in the dark, albeit much less than those nurtured by light. But that wasn’t the most unexpected result of her study.

 

“The most surprising thing about this is that the plants actually grew faster in artificial light than sunlight,” said Smith, whose project took third place in the Life Sciences category.

 

The fair was started last year by the Foundation for Science Research in New Rochelle, to supplement and prepare students for New Rochelle High School’s Science Research Program. By participating, the younger students are eligible to compete in the Tri-County Science and Technology Fair in April.

 

“Whether or not you receive an award today, you have all won because you’ve made it here, and that’s an extraordinary accomplishment,” Jeff Wuebber, the head of the Science Research Program and fair emcee told the students. 

 

The youngest students in the competition were from William B. Ward Elementary School and Daniel Webster Magnet School. 

 

Ward fifth-grader Leo Adams showed that an unlit match can prevent tears when chopping onions. Ten subjects all cried when cutting a yellow onion without the match. With a match held in the mouth, eight subjects sliced into the pungent bulbs tearlessly. The sulfur in the match absorbed the enzyme that irritates the eyes, Adams explained.

 

“As you can see, the match was a very effective,” he said. “Only two participants cried with the match.”

 

The experiment, based on advice his great-grandmother gave him, earned him the Best in Category honor in the elementary division.

 

Webster fifth-grader Andrew Babu crystalized types of sugar to find differences in weight. Cane sugar weighed the most, at 4.49 ounces, and brown sugar weighed the least, 4.33 ounces, possibly because molasses that gives it its color dissolved in the water. Powdered sugar weighed 4.44 ounces.

 

Andrew was interested in the topic, he said, because “crystallization is everywhere in our daily lives.” The project earned him the Excellence in Science Communication award in the elementary division.

 

Board of Education member Amy Moselhi praised the students on behalf of the board.

 

“We are so excited to see all of you here this afternoon,” she said. “You are all part of a cohort of students who love to study, learn, investigate and think outside of the box. The sky is the limit for all of you. Stick with it and stick with science research.”