More than 120 students from area schools entered 100 projects in the Central Regional Science Fair for the Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, March 5. The fair was hosted by Hastings College and held at the Morrison-Reeves Science Center on campus.
The regional science fair is split into two divisions. The Junior Division is open to students in 6th through 8th grade, while the Senior Division is open to those in grades 9 through 12.
Out of the 100 projects entered, six from each division were selected to move onto the State Science Fair competition. The top Senior Division projects from the state competition will also qualify for the National Science Fair.
The 2024 Central Regional State Qualifiers are listed below. An abstract booklet of all entries can be found at hastings.edu/sciencefair.
Junior Division
- Jordan Bonifas and Lee Gibson, Silver Lake Public Schools, with “Evaluating the Tensile, Adhesive, and Hydrostatic Strength of Duct Tape.”
- Kaylee Karr and Brooklyn Himmelberg, Silver Lake Public Schools, with “How Effective Are Different Brands of Sunscreen.”
- Amelia Buhlke, Central City Public School, with “A Comparison of the Effectiveness of the Most Commonly Prescribed Topical Antibiotic Against Topical Over-the-Counter Acne Treatments in Decreasing the Amount of Bacteria on a Middle School Population’s Faces.”
- Graham Karr and Alivia Pankoke, Silver Lake Public School, with “How Different Cleaners Work on Classroom Tables.”
- Heath Larsen, Sandhills Public Schools, with “Bacterial Surface Removal.”
- Sofie Negus, Central City Public Schools, with “The Effect of Serving Style and Air Pressure on Volleyball Serving.”
Senior Division
- Dominic Stutesman, Adams Central Junior/Senior High School, with “Magnesmooth: Magnetizing the Ingenuity of Transportation.”
- Akeyli Bush, Central City Public Schools, with “The Effect of Land Management Technique on Soil Aggregation, Water Infiltration, and the Microbiome.”
- Levi Webb, Central City Public Schools, with “The Effect of Alpha Lipoic Acid on Swine Semen Viability Post Thaw.”
- Kennedy Montague and Abigail Fish, Adams Central Junior/Senior High School, with “The Effect of Microplastics on Daphnia agna.”
- Berkley Jacobitz and Peyton Harman, Adams Central Junior/Senior High School, with “Investigating the Effects of Levetiracetam on Seizures in Shaking-Sensitive Drosophila melanogaster.”
- Jerzie Schindler, Central City Public Schools, with “The effect of artificial sweeteners on the genotoxicity of E. coli.”
Hastings College is a four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. Discover more at hastings.edu.
