26-03-2025
Students present findings at regional science fair
Students presented findings on everything from psychology to agriculture at the annual science fair Tuesday at Missouri Southern State University.
This is the 36th year for the Missouri Southern Regional Science Fair, which includes student projects in junior and senior divisions. In all, 115 students presented 84 projects.
Two winners in the senior division will be nominated to go to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Columbus, Ohio, in May, where over 1,800 students will participate.
Rabindra Bajracharya, associate professor of physics at MSSU and director of the science fair, said students who have participated in the national science fair have gone on to science careers and some even won Nobel Prizes.
While Bajracharya isn't a judge, he had a chance to look over the presentations and said he was impressed. This is a chance for students to get feedback on their research as well as advice on their careers.
'They have their own science fairs in their schools, but here they get a chance to meet with students from other schools and also get to meet with experts in their fields, such as faculty members of MSSU,' Bajracharya said. 'It's really exciting for them.'
Maya Craven, a junior at Joplin High School, gave a presentation in the senior division about sheep wool pellets and their effect on water retention. She used 72 plant pots in three randomized groups, each group with different amounts of potting soil and sheep wool pellets.
The trial was 14 days long. By testing the soil moisture percentage, Craven found a correlation between sheep wool pellets in soil and increased water conservation.
'I definitely want to go into environmental science after I graduate and go to college,' Craven said. 'I believe this project helps me understand water consumption and soil in ways that can benefit me learning further into environmental science.'
Craven said she's presented several research projects before at the science fair. She even took first place in seventh grade with her presentation on which face masks were more restrictive for airflow while the pandemic was ongoing.
By studying things such as COVID-19 or water conservation, Craven said she likes to focus on current problems and how science can find solutions.
'I like my project this year because water conservation is definitely a critical concept to consider because concern over it grows and grows every day,' Craven said. 'I wanted to tune in to the problem and hopefully give a proposed way to help.'
Not only does the project help her, Craven hopes it provides knowledge to people in agriculture. There's an economic benefit in using these sheep wool pellets that really didn't have a function before. With the water retention she's shown, it can help decrease global water consumption, Craven said.
Devin Gurley, an eighth grader at South Middle School, presented a project where he measured the effect of heart rate on lung capacity. Gurley said he wanted to see if they had any correlation and, if so, what that correlation was. He used four students from South Middle School and two homeschooled students for his physical exertion tests.
Gurley's hypothesis was that there would be a steady decrease in lung capacity as the subjects' heart rate increased.
'But what I found was there was a sort of rocky decrease,' Gurley said. 'A few of my subjects actually increased in lung capacity as their heart rate increased. But toward the end, their lung capacity was always lower than when they began.'
Gurley said overall, the project made him more interested in science, especially biology.
'I'm very excited to take more classes related to science because of the science fair,' Gurley said. 'It has sparked more interest in science. I like that we have this and it's so organized. It's been a nice experience to know everybody else's projects and what to aim for. It's cool to be part of a whole of everybody doing science fair projects and competing against each other. The spirit of competition is definitely there.'
This spark is one of the science fair's goals, Bajracharya said. It's a good way to encourage students to pursue a degree in science, technology, engineering and math fields, and helps them explore careers.
'I hope that by participating in the science fair, they get lots of skills and not just content knowledge,' Bajracharya said. 'I hope they develop communication skills, presentation skills and critical thinking skills.'
