DSC_1207On February 27, the normal morning schedule came to a halt for our school-wide Science Fair, an event that all of the students had been preparing for since last fall. Everyone set up their boards all throughout the main hallway, decking the hall with boughs of science. The Science Fair contained projects from various grades and had 5 guest judges: local scientists Brian Williams, Research Associate at Clemson’s Belle W. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Dr. Dan Hitchcock, Associate Professor at Clemson’s Belle W. Baruch Institute of Coastal Ecology and Forest Science, Maggie Senko, Data Analyst at Mercom, Heather Cox, Zookeeper at Brookgreen Gardens, and Ian McLaren, Engineer, retired.

The middle school winners included Johnathan Lambert’s “Avocado Sprouting” for third place, Jesse DeLuca’s “Can Soda Dissolve Your Teeth?” for second place, and Bronwen Bodie’s “Can Biochar Remove Pollutants from Storm Water?” for first. The high school winners included Elizabeth Exum’s “Cool Blue Luminol” for third place, Avery Rose Higgins’ “Electric Rainwater” for second place, and Lochlyn Hejl’s “Puddles and Pavement” for first place. Ninth grader Chris Attias won an award for Best Theoretical Application with “Tanking Under Pressure: Building a Device to Store Hydrogen.” Top (Thomas) Lee won best overall project with “Investigating the Microbial Consortium Within Pseudoceratina Crassa and Its Surrounding Seawater Using Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization.” All students who participated in this year’s science fair will proceed to the College of Charleston’s 35th annual Lowcountry Science Fair on March 24.

by Savanna Morris and Top Lee