Congratulations!!!

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair took place this past week in Los Angeles, California. Out of the four projects our school took to ISEF, three placed.

Chad took second place in Biochemistry.
Justin took third in Energy and Transportation.
Dalton and Spencer took third in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.

Good job to you all!

Alright...

I'm still working on some stuff around the site. I'm currently working on putting on data but that's showing to be a grueling task. After that, the graphs will appear. Hopefully that will be a little easier. I'm hoping. I'll keep you updated as things appear on my site. Currently, the data for the first two years and for part of the sixth are up. No graphs are up yet but they'll begin appearing as data finishes. I'd also like to point out that I have added links to my classmates's pages at the bottom right of this site. Please take a look at their projects.

To all of my classmates out there who are also working on blogs, I wanted to say thank you for the comments. You guys are awesome. Good job on all your blogs too. They're really impressive.

Good luck at ISEF!

Today, five of my classmates are leaving to go to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, California!

Good luck to Fiona, Justin, Chad, Dalton, and Spencer at ISEF! I know you'll all do amazing and I look forward to hearing how you all did!

Good times

Now that my science fair journey has come to an end, my posts should start winding down. It's been a great six years working on this project and I am proud and happy with the accomplishments I've earned and the friends I have made.
I may continue to change and update this site, adding in data and graphs. I hope that some of you find my research interesting. You can continue to look for additional experiments I may do and keep an eye on my profile page.

State Science and Engineering Fair Results

From March 23 to March 25, 2011, the 56th Florida State Science and Engineering Fair took place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. I'm very proud of how my school performed while at this fair. We took 11 students and 9 projects to the science fair. Every project placed. We also took home two Best in Fair Awards.

Biological Best in Fair: Chad H.
Physical Best in Fair: Justin R.

Lauren A., Honorable Mention, Microbiology
Courtney F., Fourth Place, Botany
Chad H., First Place, Biochemistry
Fiona K., Third Place, Medicine and Health
Vanessa M. and Austin R., Recognition Award, Behavioral Sciences
Myself, Second Place, Earth and Space Sciences
Justin R., First Place, Engineering
Dalton S. and Spencer T., Second Place, Engineering
Sarah Z., Second Place, Environmental Sciences

Also, because Justin won Best in Fair here at State, Dalton and Spencer are now able to go to ISEF. Congrats Dalton and Spencer!

Almost there...

2 days left until the fair... Boards are being picked up today to be sent to the city the fair is in.

Orlando Science Center Science Challenge

I just went to the OSC Science Challenge over the weekend. I've never been overly fond of this fair because it is seemingly unpredictable. The usual methods of judging aren't always used here. Judges don't check log books, reprint files, or research papers, and they come all at once, in large groups. I had a single group of four people.
In general, when one is competing, they are always nervous for their first interview. When you only get one interview - with four people at once - it's even worse. I was messing up left and right, I was so nervous. I knew immediately after my interview that I didn't stand a chance.
The winner of my category at OSC was someone I consider to be a worthy opponent. We have competed in the past and his work has always appeared good and sound. So, if I couldn't win, I'm glad he was able to.

State fair is in less than a week. I don't think it's fully sunken in yet, but it's right around the corner, ready or not. All I can do now is work to try to up my game. I'm nearly done with this site. I'm right on the cusp, I can feel it. All I have left to type up is year 3 and 4 material, and I already have a lot of it up. I'm also going to try to include graphs amd diagrams into my papers here. So much to do, so little time. Adios for now.

Congratulations, Chad!

Chad H. won the local Best of Show Runner Up Run Off and will also be going to ISEF.

Awards Ceremony

I got first in Earth and Space yesterday! I'm going to State again! I also got a bid to OSC. No special awards, but that's okay. It'll be nice to finish out my last year with my friends at the state fair. I'm excited!

I'm extremely proud of my school's performance at the fair. We took nine out of the fourteen first places, all four best of shows positions, and earned many other place awards as well.

Senior Biological Best of Show: Fiona K.
Senior Physical Best of Show: Justin R.
Senior Biological Best of Show Runner Up: Chad H.
Senior Physical Best of Show Runner Up: Dalton S. and Spencer T.

All School Participants:
Lauren A., 2nd place, Microbiology
Brooke B., Animal Sciences
Miranda B. and Loren B., 2nd place, Medicine and Health
Alex B., 3rd place, Biochemistry
Sean C., Behavioral Science
Mike F., 4th place, Biochemistry
Courtney F., 1st place, Plant Sciences
Chris H. and Justin L., Computers
Chad H., 1st place, Biochemistry
Fiona K., 1st place, Medicine and Health
Alex M., Physics
Martin M., 3rd place, Mathematics
Andrea M., Animal Sciences
Vanessa M. and Austin R., 1st place, Behavioral Sciences
Pratik P., Engineering
Radha P., 4th place, Chemistry
Justin R., 1st place, Engineering
Ryan R., 2nd place, Animal Sciences
Casie R., 1st place, Microbiology
Dalton S. and Spencer T., 1st place, Physics
Andrew S., 3rd place, Behavioral Sciences
Brooke W., 4th place, Mathematics
Sarah Z., 1st place, Environmental Sciences

Lauren, Courtney, Chad, Fiona, Vanessa, Austin, Justin R., Dalton, Spencer, and Sarah will also be going to State.

In addition, Fiona and Justin will be going to ISEF.

Day 2

I don't feel like today went as well as I would have liked. Luckily, today is the special awards judging. If I won first, it'll have bearing on whether or not I go to ISEF, but honestly, State's good enough for me. I can live with just State. Guess I'll find out how I did tonight.

Day 1

So, day one of the fair is over. I feel like a did a fairly good job today. Not trying to get my hopes up but I feel pretty good about my interviews today. I would talk more, but I am utterly exhausted. Tomorrow.

Set-up

We had set up today. All our boards finally went up and are looking good for the competition tomorrow. All that's left to do is go home and relax before tomorrow when the real fun starts. I'll update again tomorrow.

Let's Go!

There is less than a week until the regional fair. This week, so lovingly named by a classmate, is Hell Week. This is the time of the year you quite literally, live and breath science fair. Last year, I found myself staying at school until my mom called me at 9:00 at night, wondering where on Earth I was and why I wasn't home yet.
This is when all the finishing touches are made to your presentation, final data is collected, and everything is put together. This is, without a doubt, the most stressful part of the science research progress. It is the one time when you can actually find everyone from the program in one place at the same time.
So, I'll just be working hard (or hardly working) and counting down the seconds until we are required to set up for the competition. Wish us all luck.