Diocesan Science Fair continues to grow

Andy Airiess

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Students hone their oral presentation skills to present their experiments effectively to judges during the Diocesan Science Fair. Courtesy photo/Andy Airiess

DRAPER — Zach Shubella and Mariah Trujillo won top honors at the 17th annual Knights of Columbus sponsored Diocesan Science Fair held at the Skaggs Catholic Center Feb. 23.

Shubella, a seventh-grader at J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School, received the Young Scientist of the Year award and Mariah Trujillo, a sixth-grader at Saint Francis Xavier School, received the award for the Overall Best Physiology Project.

Shubella came up with the idea for his project, "The Big Chill," because his family subscribes to a cooking magazine. He wanted to find the quickest method to freeze a sparkling beverage in a glass bottle.

"Using five different methods, I found that a salted ice bath was the fastest, whereas the magazine stated wrapping the bottle in a wet towel and placing it in the freezer was the fastest," said Shubella.

Shubella said the science fair was a good experience and helped him "learn how to speak to people and explain my project," he said.

Shubella also won the Overall Seventh Grade award and the Overall Physical Science award.

The Overall Best Physiology award is sponsored by Dr. Daniel Malleske of the American Physiological Society, a Knight of Columbus and professor of neonatology at the University of Utah.

Trujillo, who won the award, wants to be a veterinarian, so she based her project on dog behaviors. She looked at the physiology of the structure of dogs’ eyes and why they tend to prefer blue and yellow colored treats over red and green. She determined that the structure of their eyes makes them more likely to choose those colors.

"In the back of a dog’s eye in the retina there are two different kinds of photo receptors: cones and rods," said Trujillo. "Cones are sensitive to color and detail and rods are sensitive to motion, changes in color and light. In a human there are three sets of cone receptors; whereas, in a dog’s eye there are only two sets of cone receptors so they have a limited color spectrum compared to a human."

Trujillo made her own yellow, red, blue and green treats so they would taste and smell the same and set them on yellow, red, blue or green pieces of paper and made sure that every dog had a new piece of paper, so they could not smell another dog.

Trujillo tested 17 dogs; "nine chose blue and yellow and eight chose red and green," Trujillo said. "I thought since some of the dogs were older than 4 years and couldn’t see as clearly, sI added green, since it was a combination of blue and yellow, then 12 of 17 dogs chose blue, yellow and green. The dogs came from the Humane Society and were various breeds and sizes."

This year saw 231 projects entered in the fair; 45 of the participants and six Juan Diego Catholic High School participants qualified for the upcoming Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair in March.

The SLVSEF includes students in fifth through twelfth grades from the Canyons, Granite, Murray, Park City, Salt Lake, Tooele school districts, as well as the Diocese of Salt Lake City, said science fair co-coordinator Jim Larson, Cosgriff math and science teacher.

"We became a qualifying fair last year, and if the students are successful at the SLVSEF, they can go on to compete on a regional and national level," said Larson. "The research that these student-scientists are doing represents the pinnacle of their science experiences. These are student-driven projects and it is a key part of their science education. As our science fair strengthens, it is a reflection of the strengthening curriculum in all of our schools."

Last year the students did so well at the SLVSEF that the diocese was given five additional positions this year, said Vicky Simpson, Saint Francis Xavier math and science teacher, and co-coordinator of the fair. "We were able to include the sixth grade level this year," she said. "We heard only good comments from the judges; they are continually impressed by the quality of projects that our middle schools present."