| Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge |
Article Index for Discovery Channel |
Website Links For Discovery Channel |
Information AboutDiscovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DISCOVERY CHANNEL YOUNG SCIENTIST CHALLENGE | |
| science competitions | |
| youth science | |
|
2005 WINNERS Neela Thangada Neela Thangada won first place and a ''$20,000'' scholarship in the finals. Neela's science fair project was entitled Effects of Various ''Nutrient Concentrations on the Cloning of the Eye of Solanum tuberosum at Multiple Stages''. Her skills of leadership, teamwork, scientific problem solving, critical thinking, and oral and written communication skills earned her the distinguished title of "America's Top Young Scientist of the Year." About her project Inspired by a biology Textbook 's idea of a potato Cloning experiment, Neela set out to explore plant cloning. She wanted to determine how different nutrient concentrations affected the multiple stages of growth in a Potato . Neela removed 60 shoot tips growing from potatoes. After sterilizing the tips, she excised the bottom two segments, the meristem and primordial. She placed each in a test tube of half-strength or full-strength Nutrient solution and incubated them. During her first trial, all the samples became contaminated. Neela persevered and redid the entire Experiment , finding that the potato clones did indeed grow better in the full-strength solution. Nilesh Tripuraneni Nilesh Tripuraneni won second place at the finals and a $10,000 Scholarship . His project was called ''Solar Production of Hydrogen from Seawater via Electrolysis.'' About his project Nilesh had heard about Hydrogen -powered Car s but understood that producing Hydrogen requires Fossil Fuels . He sought to find a more Environment ally friendly approach through Solar Hydrogen production. Nilesh built a solar-powered device that ran an electric current through a beaker full of saltwater. The result was Electrolysis , by which water is split into hydrogen and oxygen. By clever manipulation of various Gas laws, Nilesh measured the Temperature , Pressure , and Volume of the Hydrogen gas produced. He found that seawater produced almost as much Hydrogen as Solution s containing Sulfuric Acid or Sodium Hydroxide . Mary Lou Hedberg Mary Lou Hedberg won third prize, a $5,000 Scholarship in the finals. Her project was entitled ''Paddle Perfection? Seeking New Designs with Flume Testing''. About her project While kayaking, Mary Lou was mesmerized by the swirling patterns her Paddle made. She wondered whether the swirls represented lost Energy , and, if so, whether Paddle s could be made to be more efficient. Mary Lou built a flume made of PVC tubing, a Whirlpool pump, and a butterfly valve to control the flow. She made model paddles from Plastic spoons that she softened and reshaped, and then built a device to measure horizontal and vertical forces on each paddle. After testing four blade shapes and three shaft Angle s – taking more than 300 Measurement s – she concluded that a spoon-shaped blade with a bent shaft delivered the most force. She has filed a provisional Patent application for the design. TRIVIA
EXTERNAL LINKS SEE ALSO |
|
|