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Science Day leads 55 students to state competition
A total of 125 fifth- through 12th-grade students competed
By Kalea Hall
youngstown
Nicholas Moliterno, 11, of St. Joseph Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Austintown has always been intrigued by science and the way things work, especially roller coasters.
“I have always had a passion for roller coasters,” he said. “I would like to learn a lot more about physics.”
Nicholas used his interest in roller coasters as a gateway to his school’s science fair, which led him to compete Saturday with 125 fifth- through 12th-grade students from four counties for the Lake-to-River Science Day — the District 15 fair — in Youngstown State University’s Stambaugh Stadium.
And now, he will head to the state competition with 55 other students to present his project on the physics behind roller coasters.
“[We are] so happy for him,” Nicholas’ mother, Erin, said. “We are very proud. He is a good kid. He deserves it.”
The Science Day at YSU has been an ongoing event for decades, said Stephen Rodabaugh, associate dean of the School of Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics at YSU. The event features students from schools in Mahoning, Trumbull, Ashtabula and Columbiana counties.
“Science Day in particular gives them a hands-on acquaintance of the scientific method,” Rodabaugh said.
Students are expected to follow a lengthy process of testing out their theories, analyzing data and running through the experiment at least three times.
Three top awards are given out at Science Day to the elite among those going to the state competition. This year, Anastasia Johnson, 15, from Canfield High School took the top award, Best of Fair, for her project on “Comparison of Various Column Filters to Treat Fracking Flowback Water to Reduce Toxicity to Daphnia and Seed Germination.”
“The carbon filter reduced toxicity in flowback water the most, compared to other filters,” Johnson said. “This is my third year of doing this project. Since it has been occurring in our area, I was wondering how I could improve this treatment of the flowback water.”
Ethan Ball, 13, of Willow Creek Learning Center in Boardman, received the best middle-school project award for his project showing how temperature and turbidity affect iodine purification tablets on natural water sources.
“Tablets don’t work as well in lower temperature and higher temperatures,” Ethan said.
“Honestly, I have always liked science,” he added. “Environmental science is something I am interested in.”
Preston Hollopeter, 18, of St. Vincent St. Mary High School in Akron won best high-school project for his medically based project.
“I have this electro-spinning process that produces these very, very thin fibers, which are similar to extra-cellular matrix, and I am trying to use these things called additives and trying to mimic extra-celluar matrix so that I can produce more biocompatible material that reduces the chance of infection,” he said.
Preston did his research at the University of Akron and is still not completely finished.
“I think it’s really cool,” he said. “I just think this whole process of taking an idea and really thinking through all of the perameters that are surrounding it and try to do something that can actually help people. I think that’s something that is pretty exciting.”