Colony Middle School brings home science gold from fair

Colony Middle School science students won the Outstanding Middle School Science Award at the 2004 Alaska Science Fair this March.

Eight students from Colony competed at the fair, bringing home four gold ribbons and several silver and bronze.

"All of our kids won something," said Dana Phillips, the Colony science teacher who taught the class that helped students conduct their science experiments.

Jessica Blaney, Jeff Ford, Daniel Baldwin and Michael Martin all received gold ribbons in their science fair categories; all but Baldwin were surprised by their individual wins.

"I just went for fun," said Martin.

Blaney, a seventh grader, conducted her science project on whether mice running through a maze were affected by music being played while running the course. She found that the mice took twice as long to finish the maze when she turned on her radio.

"Mostly hard rock, like Lincoln Park," responded Blaney when asked what type of music she played for the mice. Blaney also received special recognition for her project from the U.S. Navy.

Ford tested the burning speed of different types of fabric for his project, and competed in the chemistry section of the fair. He found that wool burned the slowest, while nylon and polyester melted.

"You don't want to be wearing that in a fire," said Ford, a seventh grader.

Martin conducted an experiment on whether he could slow electrical speed; and received recognition from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, along with his gold ribbon in the physics competition.

Baldwin, the only eighth grader of the group, created a perpetual motion machine for his science fair project.

"I based it on magnets pulling each other so they could repulse each other along the track," said Baldwin.

Student's scores were not only based on the ingenuity of their projects, but also the presentation and interview at the fair itself, which took place in Anchorage on the weekend of March 13.

This is the second year in a row that a Matanuska-Susitna Borough Middle School has won the Outstanding Middle School Science Award; last year, students from Houston Middle School received the award.

Contact Jen Ransom at jen.ransom@frontiersman.com.