The 28th annual Falmouth Academy Science Fair, featuring 165 student projects and a judging panel of nearly 100 scientists, engineers, physicians, researchers and other experts – several of them Falmouth Academy alumni – was held at the school on February 18.
The fair was the culmination of five months of independent research on the part of every Falmouth Academy student in grades 7-11, who were supported and guided in their work by teachers and mentors from the local scientific community.
Organizations represented on the judging panel included Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole Research Center, NOAA, Sea Education Association, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Geological Survey, Cape Cod Healthcare, Visiting Nurses Association, and Mass. Audubon. The judging panel also included faculty from major research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, Tufts, the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. Other judges represented area schools and colleges, municipal government and businesses.
Upper School Awards
Second Place: Alissya Silva, grade 10, of Marion, “Endotoxin Content of Tap Water, Filtered Water and Different Bottled Water Brands.”
Third Place: Eliza Van Voorhis, grade 11, of Mattapoisett, “A Study on Potential Bacteria Found in Fast Food Restaurant Ice.”
Middle School Awards
Second Place: Charles Tomlinson, grade 8, of Marion “The Most Effective Ski Wax on Ice.”
Fourth Place: Eleanor Beams, grade 7, of Mattapoisett, “The Effect of Fertilizer on the Chlorophyll Content of Pond Water.”
Fifth Place: Emma Keeler, grade 9, of Rochester, “The Effects of Different Ocean Hypoxia and Acidification Scenarios on the Size Distribution of Calcifying and Non-Calcifying Species of Foraminifera.”