News and Updates

SGSC Hosts 2016 Regional Science Fair

By: Amy Hancock
External Affairs Coordinator

Over 440 students from area schools convened on South Georgia State College’s Douglas Campus on Friday, Feb. 5 for the Regional Science and Engineering Fair. Participants from Appling, Atkinson, Brantley, Charlton, Coffee, Echols, Pierce, and Ware counties brought in their best science fair projects to be judged using several criteria, including thoroughness, proper source citation and adherence to the scientific method.

Science projects are important components of the curriculum in many elementary, middle and high schools. Students choose a particular problem they would like to investigate. Then, using the scientific method, they conduct their experiments and write a report of their research.

Students arrived first thing Friday morning to set up their projects in SGSC’s Douglas Campus gymnasium and were able to browse through the projects of other students at the fair. After all projects were set up to the young scientists’ satisfaction, the team of dedicated judges began to critique the projects anonymously. While waiting on the awards presentation at the end of the day, the students took advantage of the free time by taking in a fun science show by Ken Scott and a science “magic” show by The Science Guy, Dr. Craig Anderson.

The highly-anticipated awards ceremonies were held in the wellness center gym for grades 4 – 5 and the Peterson Hall auditorium for grades 6 – 12, where students would see how well their projects faired on their own and against the others at the fair. The big winner for fourth grade was Trysta Bennett of Ms. Molly Gowen’s class at Bethune Middle School for the project entitled “Goo-Be-Gone.” First place for fifth grade was Bryton Borg of Ms. Lisa Thrift’s Waresboro Elementary class for the project, “Tarty.”

In the Junior Division, first place for Physical Science was awarded to eighth grader Charles Williams from Mr. Seth Taylor’s Appling County Middle School science class for the project entitled “Just Chilling.”  In Life Science, first place was awarded to eighth grader Anna Kate Folsom from Karen Swain’s Appling County Middle School class for the project entitled “Which Pill Wins the Drill When I’m Ill?”

In the Senior Division, first place for Physical Science went to ninth grader Chelsea Rose of Ms. Amanda Bridges’ Ware County High School class for her project, “How Does Light Intensity Change with Distance?” First place for Life Science was awarded to seniors Dhruvi Patel and Rebecca Fabian of Ms. Jama Kirkland’s Coffee High School science class for their project, “How is Heart Rate Affected by Caffeine Consumption?”

Second Grand Prize overall in the Junior and Senior division went to sixth graders Janna Moore and Zoe Dixon of Ms. Tara Tyler’s  Hoboken Elementary School class for the project, “Around and Around We Go.” First Grand Prize overall, which included a ribbon, trophy, and $1000 scholarship to South Georgia State College courtesy of the SGSC and Dye Foundations, was awarded to seventh grader Jacob Strickland from Dr. Jennifer Strickland’s class at Waycross Middle School with the project, “Drip, Drip, Drip, Take a Sip.”

Other winners for the fourth grade were Jonathan Dial taking second place with the project, “Do Green Bags Preserve Fruit Longer?” and Seth Beale with the third place win with the project, “Do Different Color Apples Have Different Amount of Seeds?” Both students are in Ms. Shanna Floyd’s class at Midway Elementary School. Honorable mentions for fourth grade were Grayson Thomas from Ms. Lisa Thrift’s class at Waresboro Elementary with the project, “Snooze Jam,” Wade DiBiase from Ms. Shanna Floyd’s class at Midway Elementary with the project, “Does a Canine’s Mouth Have More or Less Bacteria than that of a Human?”, and Bryce Loftus from Ms. Mindy Waldron’s class at Hoboken Elementary with the project, “The Effect of Music on Plant Growth.”

In the fifth grade, the second place win went to Jacob Pittman from Ms. Kim Walter’s class at Midway Elementary with the project, “How Do Different Liquids Cause Tooth Decay?” Third place went to the team of Allen Rooks, Harlan Pruitt, and Zach Williams from Ms. Debra Beane’s class at Atkinson Elementary with the project, “Pinewood Derby Action.” Honorable mentions were Brody Hall and Kah’lil Clowers from Ms. Lindsay Hopkins’ class at William Heights Elementary with the project, “Bouncing Bungees,” Chance Shuman and Ben Tucker from Ms. Tabbitha Edholm’s class at Hoboken Elementary with the project, “No Pain, Lots of Game,” and Henry Turner from Ms. Cristy Parlor’s class at Fourth District Elementary with the project, “Quicker Picker Upper.”

Other winners in the Junior Division for Life Science were second place, Ally Atkinson, seventh grader from Ms. Dawn McClung’s class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Pet Smarts,” and third place, Alexis Carter and Jaycie Carter, eighth grade students in Ms. Karen Swain’s class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Brain Candy.” State Fair awards were presented to Adison Avera, seventh grader from Ms. Angela Morris’ class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Sensitive Sides,” Cason Kirksey and Ryan Hayes, eighth graders from Ms. Karen Swain’s class at Appling County Middle with the project, “The Water…Can You Drink It?”, Gracy Batchelor and Gracie Orvin, eighth graders from Ms. Karen Swain’s class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Memory and Color,” Hannah Edmund, seventh grader from Ms. Angela Morris’ class at Appling County Middle with the project, “IGerms,” Riley Johns, Landon Carver, and Christian O’Quinn, sixth graders from Ms. Lori Slover’s class at Nahunta Elementary with the project, “Distracted Drivers,” Trinitee Johnson, seventh grader from Dr. Jennifer Strickland’s class at Waycross Middle with the project, “Quit Stressing Baby,” and Whitney Walker and Arianna Parrish, seventh graders from Dr. Jennifer Strickland’s class at Waycross Middle with the project, “The Biggest Gummy Bear.”

Junior Physical Science awards went to seventh grader Carson Mercer from Mr. Al Spivey’s class at Atkinson Middle for the second place winning project, “Bringing the Heat,” and seventh grader Trudi Carter from Mr. Jarred Crumpton’s class at Appling County Middle for the third place winning project, “The Golden Ratio: The Power of Attraction.” State Fair awards were presented to Carson England, eighth grader from Mr. Seth Taylor’s class at Appling County Middle for the project, “What’s Poppin’?”, Grace Rowell and Emma Weger, sixth graders from Ms. Tara Tyler’s class at Hoboken Elementary with the project, “Sink My Boat,” Jesse Cothren, sixth grader from Ms. Lori Slover’s class at Nahunta Elementary with the project, “Frisbee Fun,” Karson Lamb, seventh grader from Ms. Angela Morris’ class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Eggs’tra, Eggs’tra Read All About It!”, Kellyn Smith, sixth grader from Ms. Julie Britt’s class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Coin Cleanser,” Kendall Faith Spell, sixth grader from Ms. Julie Britt’s class at Appling County Middle with the project, “Soda Pop Til You Drop,” and the team of Saige Tanner, Cheyenne Odum, and McKenna Nettels, sixth graders from Ms. Molly Chaney’s class at Atkinson County Middle with the project, “Soda – The Sweet Thief of Teeth.”

Additional awards given in Senior Physical Science went to Jocia Stewart, eleventh grader from Ms. Amanda Bridges’ class at Ware County High with the second place project, “The Dangers of Subsidence,” and Randy Smith, ninth grader from Ms. Amanda Bridges’ class at Ware County High with the third place project, “Get Gassed.”

Congratulations to all winners of the 2016 Regional Science Fair.

For photographs of all winners from the Science Fair, please visit SGSC’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/southgeorgiastatecollege.

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TOP PHOTO: First Grand Prize overall in the Junior and Senior division was awarded to seventh grader Jacob Strickland from Waycross Middle School with the project, “Drip, Drip, Drip, Take a Sip.” Dr. Rob Page, SGSC’s vice president for academic affairs, made the presentation.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Second Grand Prize overall in the Junior and Senior division went to sixth graders Janna Moore and Zoe Dixon from Hoboken Elementary School for the project, “Around and Around We Go.” Dr. Rob Page, SGSC’s vice president for academic affairs, made the presentation.