Marlington holds second annual science fair

By AMADEUS Published:

Potato guns, gasoline and energy drinks? Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen -- or the focus of a few experiments presented at Marlington High School's science fair.

Jesse Groff, a science teacher at Marlington and one of the fair's judges, said he noticed that many students had put a lot of extra work into their projects. With the fair in its second year, Gross said he believed students were better prepared to meet and exceed expectations. He also attributed the students' hard work to their knowing they had a chance at scholarships.

Whatever the experiment, Groff said the students needed to apply the fundamental thing they've learned in their science classes.

"We want to make sure the students follow the scientific method," he said.

Christian Oyster, 17, wanted to find out how to get better gas mileage. His truck gets 10 miles to the gallon, and driving a small car isn't an option.

"I drive a truck, so my gas mileage isn't good," Oyster said.

Oyster, a junior at the high school, decided to test the quality and gas mileage of gasoline from Marathon, GetGo and Circle K.

Driving around and monitoring his odometer in relation to the amount of gas being used took care of the mileage measurement. To determine the gasoline's ethanol content, an indicator of the fuel's quality, Oyster used a combination of water, fuel and fuel tester. The fuel tester, he said, turns the ethanol blue, allowing him to see how much of the gas is made up of the substance.

Oyster found that gasoline from Marathon provided the best gas mileage and was the highest quality.

It was all about going the distance for seniors Austin Yoder and Nick Bogunovich.

"We shot potatoes basically," Yoder said.

The two tested the effect of four different aerosols (working as the pressurized gas used for potato guns) on the distance traveled by the potatoes.

Yoder, 18, and Bogunovich, 17, used Off! insect repellent, Right Guard, Old Spice and hair spray. They found that Off! caused the potato to travel the farthest -- an average distance of 408 feet.

Sophomore Sarah Mason, 16, and senior Tori Reeves, 17, wanted to find out which fast food fries had the highest total fat content as well as the highest relative amount of saturated fat. They used fries from McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King.

After weighing the fries, they used a solvent to break the fries down and boiled the mixture off, leaving only the fat. They then determined the relative amount of saturated fat by reintroducing the solvent as well as bromine to the leftover fat.

Based on McDonald's nutrition facts, the two believed the restaurant's fries would have the highest total fat content but the least amount of saturated fat. However, results proved otherwise.

"We found that McDonald's fries had the largest amount of both," Mason said.

Juniors Allie Carr and Tyler Redinger thought that consumption of the energy drink Monster would have adverse effects on athletic performance, as energy drinks can cause an imbalance of electrolytes.

But after having four fellow students (all athletes) perform fitness tests before and after consuming the drink, they found that the students' results after consuming the beverage were better.

Athletes themselves, the two 17-year-olds still don't drink energy drinks, in spite of their findings.

Students earned one of three distinctions for their work: superior, excellent or good. Those who earned a superior are eligible to move on to the Ohio District 13 Science Day, held at the University of Mount Union. There, they will have a chance to earn scholarships.

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