Four students from Kaua‘i — one from Kapa‘a High School and three from Kaua‘i High School — recently returned from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The event, held in Albuquerque, N.M., over the middle week of May, attracted
Four students from Kaua‘i — one from Kapa‘a High School and three from Kaua‘i High School — recently returned from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
The event, held in Albuquerque, N.M., over the middle week of May, attracted entries at an international level.
“This is the first year in quite a few that Kaua‘i district has had an affiliation with ISEF,” said chaperone Andrew Snow, a science teacher at Kaua‘i High School, in a press release. “This meant that the best science fair projects from this island get to compete at the international level, without having to first qualify at the state science fair.”
Snow, who was impressed with the students’ appearance in suits, said the Kaua‘i entrants included Kara Dastrup, a ninth-grader from Kapa‘a High School, Riles Martinez and Guy Miller, a team of 10th-grade students from Kaua‘i High School, and Zylo
Jacaine, another sophomore from Kaua‘i High School.
Dastrup’s project involved testing the side effects of caffeine on seed growth. This project earned her first place honors at the Kaua‘i District Science Fair.
Martinez and Miller’s project, a second place team winner, tested how long two proposed treatments for the coqui frog (hydrated lime and citric acid) would persist in the soil following its use.
Jacaine’s project dealt with simulation modeling of the search for extrasolar planets, or those planets that orbit stars other than our solar system’s sun.
Snow said the Kaua‘i contingent of four entries joined up with 16 other students from around the state.
“While none of the Kaua‘i projects won at the international level, the students nonetheless enjoyed greatly the experience of competing at such a prestigious level,” Snow said. “They all came home animated and motivated to start new projects in hopes of competing at the 2008 fair which will be held in Atlanta, Ga.”
Snow, who will be relocating to Mililani High School at the end of this school year, said, “I encourage science teachers and students from around the island to take full advantage of this affiliation in the coming years.”
