Four students represented Bellbrook Middle School at this years Ohio Academy of Science Days held in April.
Kelsey Bisignani, Eliza Dean, Cristian Schrock and Carter Walters shared their projects at the District level while Dean and Schrock went on to earn high marks at the state Science Days.
The middle school, which has won the Governor's Award for 27 consecutive years for its work in STEM, was primed for the competition this year as three of the four participants had projects they created for their Science and Engineering Showcase, held in late October.
Schrocks project had a personal interest flare, as he explored his passion for angling ... and angles.
The question he tried to solve was, What's the best angle to cast a fishing rod for distance?
Part of Schrocks project was to create a prototype that used the same fishing pole to find the different release angles to see which one would help him cast his bait the farthest distance.
Schrock earned a Superior Rating at both the District and State Science days.
"Participating in state science day was a full experience, from developing my project and presentation in the fall to participating in district and state science days later in the year," Schrock said. "State science day was a
day I won't forget. Touring the university campus and seeing archeological exhibits, as well as seeing what other students came up with. Science is life!"
Dean (7th grade) put together her project entitled: Which Store is the Cleanest? She swabbed shopping cart
handles from local stores to see which one grew the most bacteria.
She received a Superior rating for her project at the District level, and went on to state where she received an Excellent rating.
"It was a fun experience because I was able to see projects from other schools," Dean said. "I really enjoyscience, and it was interesting getting to use the science I learned in school outside of the classroom."
As a science teacher, we encourage our students to ask questions and find solutions and to fail forward,"
Bellbrook Middle School teacher Emily Cline said. "It's inspiring to see them come up with these questions and then come up with the process to find the solutions."
Bisignani's project was entitled How much color paint does it take to cover ink, which received an Excellent
Rating.
"We are always so impressed with how well our students do at our BMS showcase and beyond," BellbrookMiddle School principal Jenna Hill said. "Their success speaks to the continued collaboration between
parents and teachers and our community's support for our schools. Our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science
teachers always do a great job with inquiry and project based learning to make science come alive!"
Walters, a sixth grader, didn't present during the October Science and Engineering Showcase. Instead, he created his project specifically for the competition. His project was titled, Can AI be trained to mimic a sixth grader to do a sixth graders homework.