Earning first place awards with special awards include the
following:
Ben Graham, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of
Common Rocket Fuel Additives on Thrust,
Director’s Award for Excellence in Chemistry
Lydia Olawaiye, grade 12: A Study of Cuticular
Hydrocarbon as a Means of Host Selection for
Parasitic Wasps, Director’s Award for Excellence
in Zoology
Michael Parker, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of the
Temperature of a Wire on the Wire’s Resistance, Special
Award in Physics
Abby Smith, grade 8: The Effect of a Colored Light Bulb
on the Tropism of a Wisconsin Fast Plant, Special Award in
Botany
Mary Torrance, grade 12: The Effects of Compost
Applications on Plant Health, Director’s Award for Excellence
in Botany
Travis Wiehe, grade 8: Does Temperature Affect Your Ability
to Problem Solve?, Special Award in Behavioral Psychology
The other 11 students that earned first place awards include:
Nicholle Benedict, grade 12: The Impact of Brain-Sidedness
on Left-Brain Function
John Corbett, grade 8: The Effect of False Testimony on a
Witness’s Memory
Molly Henschke, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of Group Size
on Group Success in Solving a Hands-On Problem
Devon Jones, grade 8: Robot Search Algorithms – Random
vs. Systematic
Lauren Life, grade 12: A Study of Social and Digital
Interactions of Millennials
Caitlyn McCloskey, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of Genre
,
of Music Playing on Amount of Information Retained from a
Study Session
Brock Meanor, grade 12: The Effects of In Utero Protein
Supplementation on Rabbit Ear Length
Jake Musial, grade 8: Does Foreign Language Ability Affect
,
Scores on a Spanish Math Test?
Connor Scanlon, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of How an
,
Object’s Shape Changes the Object’s Terminal Velocity
Caroline Steliotes, grade 12: An Investigation into Laughing
,
as a Social Norm
Julia Weicht, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of Weather on the
,
Temperature in Different Parts of a Creek
“After five months of research, experimental design successes
and failures, data collection and analysis, as well as presentation
and defense of their findings, these students showed the rest
of Allegheny County what high quality, outstanding scientific
research looks like,” Mr. Robertson said.
Quaker Valley Middle School eighth graders enrolled in the
4000-level Physical Science class have the option to participate
in the PJAS competition.
“Students design a science experiment in an area of their
interest and then present their experimental results and
conclusions,” Margot Bruno, middle school science teacher, said.
“Fifteen – our largest group ever – elected to attend PJAS
and have their experiment and presentation critiqued by
a panel of judges made up of science teachers and real
industry scientists from the Pittsburgh area.”
Students do not compete against each other, but
rather their experiments and presentations are judged
against a criteria-based rubric. Students earning a first
place award are invited to present their experiment at the
state competition in May at The Pennsylvania State University in
State College.
The following Quaker Valley students earned second place
awards in the science competition:
Seba Correa, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of the Writing
Utensil Compared to How Quickly You Can Write
Catherine Getty, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of Length of a
Person’s Fingernails on the Sound Quality of Piano Playing
Annie Luptak, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of Different
Material on How Long it Take a Soccer Ball to Roll 5 meters
by an Equal Force
Ben Mastrorocco, grade 8: Analyzing the Effect of the Type
of Metal in the Core on How Many Grams an Electromagnet
Can Lift
PJAS is a statewide organization of junior and senior high
school students designed to stimulate and promote interest
in science among its members through the development of
research projects and investigations. For more information visit
www.pjas.net.
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QUAK E R VAL L E Y SC HOOL DI STRI C T N E WS
S
eventeen Quaker Valley students earned first place
awards at the regional Pennsylvania Junior Academy of
Science competition at Duquesne University. In addition,
six of those students were recognized with special awards for
exceptional experimental design.
“These special awards are earned by students with impressive,
novel and advanced experiments,” J. David Robertson, Quaker
Valley High School b