McNick’s Science Era: Students compete in annual science fair

Posted on by Meghan Runte

By: Meghan Runte

The Annual Science Fair occurred on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. There were four honorable mentions, four special awards, and the top three winners.  

The actual science fair starts with the presentations, even though students have been working over a year on their research and compiling their findings. Students present their research to a group of judges, then the judges ask any questions they have. Lastly, the judges score the project. 

Science teacher and department chair Ms. Mary Dennemann, shares that the projects that typically do well are the projects that follow the scientific method. The scientific method consists of asking a question, gathering information, forming a hypothesis, designing and performing an experiment, interpreting data, drawing a conclusion, and sharing results. If a student follows these steps well, they have a better chance of doing well in competition.  

Dennemann says that judges also like to see passion from students presenting. When picking a project, Dennemann encourages students to pick an idea that interests them. This way students can show judges something they are passionate and curious about. Dennemann also said that when brainstorming, students should make observations about the world around them and ask questions about it.  

Those earning Honorable Mentions included the following students:  

  • Sophomore Molly Armstrong with “How does chlorine water impact skin?” 
  • Sophomore Josie Mayfield with “Effects of Sunscreen on Daphnia magna” 
  • Sophomore Lily VonHolle with “Plastic pollution and solutions” 
  • Junior Zach Westerkamp with “Can I change my brain waves?” 

Special Awards: 

  • National Association of Biology Teacher’s Award for Outstanding Life Science Project: “Effects of Sunscreen on Daphnia magna” by sophomore Josie Mayfield 
  • Governor’s Award in Advanced or Alternative Energy: “Effect of Wind Turbine Blade Material on Speed and Sound” by sophomore AJ Goff 
  • Governor’s Award in Information Science & Technology Research: “Effect of the Length of VSB-C Cable on Charging Time” by Nico Voegele 
  • Governor’s Award in Biotechnology & Biomedical Technologies: “Can I change my brain waves?” by Zach Westerkamp 

The top three overall winners included: 

  • 1st place sophomore Nico Voegele: “Effect of the Length of VSB-C Cable on Charging Time” 
  • 2nd place sophomore Annabel Moeves: “Does running, biking, or lifting have the most significant afterburn?” 
  • 3rd place sophomore AJ Goff: “Effect of Wind Turbine Blade Material on Speed and Sound” 

Mayfield said she “enjoyed [the science fair] and it was good to be able to present my hard work and be proud of it.”  Armstrong said she enjoyed presenting at the fair and said the “science NHS students were very kind, and I was not nervous, which helped a lot.” However, Armstrong said she didn’t enjoy writing the research paper and conclusion documents. She did add that she believes it would be better to have trifolds instead of making a PowerPoint slide and printing it out on large paper.  

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