Fiendishly clever projects at Science Fair

FALLS VILLAGE — Jordan Haggard’s Science Fair project was fiendish. 

The ninth grader subjected 10 of her fellow students to an experiment designed to see if motor reflexes improved after ingesting sugar.

The sugar took the form of Pixy Sticks, a particularly unpleasant form of candy that is essentially flavored sugar in a paper tube.

Haggard explained the experiment to a reporter before the judging at the Science Fair on Tuesday, May 21, at Housatonic Valley Regional High School.

After the test subjects ingested the sugar, she tested their ability to grab a falling yard stick with their hand.

Sure enough, the subjects had faster reflexes after taking in the Pixy Sticks than before.

Haggard said she chose Pixy Sticks because “it was the highest concentration I could find.”

Ninth grader Madison Long created a solar still out of a metal mixing bowl, a smaller plastic container, a piece of plastic tubing, plastic wrap and a rock.

She said she was attracted to the idea of a solar still, to create clean water from contaminated water, because “it’s zero emissions and it’s a simple contraption.”

Using water from a stream, a well and water containing runoff from a quarry, she was able to get clean water from all three sources.

Even the quarry sample, which was orange to start with, was cleaned up. 

The big drawback of the experiment was the design of the still. “I didn’t collect as much water as I expected,” she said.  From a sample size of 500 milliliters she was able to get between one teaspoon and two tablespoons of clean water.

Sophomore Aliza Luminati tested smartphones, computer keyboards and toilet seats for bacteria.

The toilet seats were the worst, which surprised her.

“All the background said it would be the phones.”

She treated the surfaces with Lysol, and reported that the disinfectant reduced the bacteria by 95 percent.

“You have to clean the toilet a lot,” she added.

The winners were: 

Freshmen: Tie for first place, Tori Dodge and Avery Tripp; second, Emma Crane; third, Jordan Haggard.

Sophomores: First, Jacob Ellington; second, Aliza Luminati; tie for third, Natalie Nestler and Eli Abbott.

Physics: First, Brierley Lloyd; second, Anna Coon; third, Holden Marks.