Science fair hits the Basin

It was a television commercial that inspired Hannah Weber to develop her award-winning science fair project three years ago.

The 17-year-old Big Spring senior said she saw one of those commercials that requests for people to send money to children overseas to help provide them with clean water, appropriate education and a decent life. So Weber set off trying to figure out a way to kill Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli, in water using basic materials that can be found around most homes.

The Permian Basin Regional Science Fair took place Saturday in the UTPB gymnasium. And awards ceremony followed at Nimitz Junior High School. Steve Nelson, director of the science fair, said the 2010 science event saw 345 student participants.

Weber’s project, three years in the making, has sent her to the International Science Fair for the past two years. Rules allow students to change one variable in the project each year and that is what Weber has done with her project. This year, Weber used a battery and sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, to kill the E. coli bacteria. Weber said the battery charge breaks up the sodium chloride compound and chlorine, which is used to kill bacteria is swimming pools, kills the E. coli.

Big Spring science teacher Gary Newton, who is also Weber’s teacher, said he encourages students to look within to find the ideas for science fair projects.

“They start out with things they’re interested in,” Newton said. “They can explore something they have an interest in.”

Big Spring had the largest showing of any city represented at the fair and Newton said the projects presented by his students were quite varied and reflected the personality of the individual students. One musically inclined student presented a project over the effect music has on studying. Another student studied what effect color has on an IQ test. Another student who participated in the school band’s flag team did her project about the physics of drag on a twirling flag.

Although Weber said she has won overall at the regional science fair the previous two years, the 2010 overall award belonged to Trinity School student Megan Khoury and home school student from Lamesa Nathan Taylor. These two students will represent the Permian Basin in the Intel International Science Fair in San Jose, Calif., in May. Weber took home the first-place award in the senior division of environmental management.

Nelson said in total, UTPB provided more than $152,000 in scholarships for science fair winners to attend UTPB. Each first-place senior division winner received an $8,000 scholarship, $2,000 a year for four years, to go to UTPB. Nelson thanked the sponsors and said they were “especially generous” this year and in addition to flying the two overall winners to California for the international competition, he hoped to provide funding for he winning senior team to also participate. The Regional Science Fair winners will compete against other high school seniors from around the world.

And despite the fact that Weber has never won or placed at the International Science Fair, that experience of competition is something Weber knows all about.

“There’s come crazy projects there and it’s hard to win if you’re from a small town,” Weber said.

Overall Regional Science Fair Winners

>> Megan Khoury, Trinity School.

>> Nathan Taylor, Home school in Lamesa.

Senior Division Science Fair first-place winners

>> Behavioral/Social Science: Krystal Soto, Big Spring High School.

>> Biochemistry: Brighton Wallace, Andrews High School.

Chemistry: Dick Lary, Midland Senior High School.

>> Energy and transportation: Brady Weber, Big Spring High School.

>> Electrical and Mechanical Engineering: Victor Woodruff, Big Spring High School.

>> Materials engineering: Ines Ben Tahar, Trinity School.

>> Environmental management: Hannah Weber, Big Spring High School.

>> Environmental science: Becca Sandell, Andrews High School.

>> Mathematical sciences: Hunter Hicks, Andrews High School.

>> Medicine and health sciences: Tamseela Gurru, Trinity School.

>> Microbiology: Megan Khoury, Trinity School.

>> Physics and astronomy: Destiny Currie, Big Spring High School

>> Plant sciences: Nathan Taylor, Home school in Lamesa.

>> Team Award: Wesley White, Viviana Salazar and Gatlin Douglas, Odessa High School.