OGDEN — A unique twist to the concept of a solar still qualified Saint Joseph 8th-grader Ryan Kenny for the Broadcom MASTERS national science competition. Kenny’s project qualified for the competition during the Ritchey Science and Engineering Fair at Weber State University, which his teacher encouraged him to attend after he did well at the St. Joseph Elementary School science fair. St. Joseph science students are required to participate in the school fair. Last year, Kenny looked at the effect chlorine has on the color of teeth. This year, he decided he wanted to investigate evaporation and condensation. As he researched possible projects, he saw one involving a solar still, and "I kind of tweaked it a little bit," said Kenny, who is a parishioner at the Weber State Newman Center. "I added fruits myself, that was my idea." A solar still is a device in which the sun’s rays pull water out of the substance inside it. The water condenses on top of the material on top of the device, leaving behind all the salts and minerals that had been in the substance from which the water came. The clean water then drips into a bowl placed to collect it. Many solar stills are made using contaminated water as the substance from which the clean water is derived. Kenny chose instead to use fruit. His project, titled "Grapefruits + Tomatoes + Solar Heat = Clean Water," measured the amount of clean water that resulted from placing the fruits in a solar still. In his hypothesis, Kenny predicted that if grapefruits and tomatoes were left in the sun, they would create fresh, clean water, which would not happen if they were placed in the shade. While he proved the first part of the hypothesis, he was surprised to discover that some water was produced if the still were placed in the shade. "I didn’t think there would be any water because it’s a solar still," he said. "I figured it needed the solar rays, but it didn’t. [In the shade] it actually had a little bit of water. Not a lot, just a little. So it doesn’t necessarily need the direct solar rays, just the heat in general. But the rays do help." Sarah Nelson, St. Joseph science teacher and science fair advisor, said she thinks Kenny’s project attracted the judges’ attention because it was creative and has practical applications. As a science student, Kenny "thinks critically about different things, and he was always wanting to improve his project throughout the school year," Nelson said. Kenny, who is the St. Joseph Student Council president, also took his project to the Diocese of Salt Lake City Science Fair. He competed there last year, as well, an experience that taught him the value of preparing his oral presentation for the judges, he said. "This year I practiced. I knew what I was going to say and I knew what everything was. I think that helped a lot from last year. Last year I was just figuring it out," he said. The hardest part of this year’s experiment was measuring the water three times a day, he said. Nevertheless, "I actually had fun with this one. I enjoyed making the solar still," he said, adding that he would like to extend the length of the experiment and try other fruit to see how the results would differ. The Broadcom MASTERS national competition, sponsored by the Society for Science & the Public, will be judged this summer; finalists showcase their projects and compete for the $25,000 grand prize during a competition in Washington, D.C. in September.
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