Search past science fair projects

CSEF 2021 project S1810 — title not published

Plant Biology Second Award

CSEF 2021 project S2104 — title not published

Toxicology Second Award

CSEF 2021 project S2210 — title not published

Zoology Second Award

A Catchy Bug

Behavioral & Social Sciences Second Award

Objectives The objective of this experiment is to determine if side of brain dominance effects how often one experiences earworms. Methods Forty-six middle school students were asked to comp…

Analyzing Stratified Ethical Behavior at Executive Levels Using Shareholder Regression Models and Firm Value

Behavioral & Social Sciences Second Award

Objectives Objective: This experiment seeks to examine firm value drops in offending companies and suppliers as well as examine the role of gender diversity in anti-corruption measures using…

An Integrated Microfluidic System for Blood Plasma Separation and Immunoassay Detection

Applied Mechanics & Structures Second Award

Objectives Human blood plasma is critical for disease diagnostics since plasma contains biomarkers associated with many diseases, including those associated with viral or other pathogenic in…

An Optimized Multigrid Algorithm for Enabling Efficient Physical Simulations on Realistic Geometries

Mathematical Sciences Second Award

Objectives Partial differential equations (PDEs) are used in physics to mathematically describe the workings of the universe. Using computers to solve these equations allows scientists and e…

A Novel Printing Methodology of 3D Inverse Opals from Free-Standing Crystalline Structures for Next-Gen Optical Sensing

Chemistry Second Award

Objectives Inverse opals (IOs) are currently limited to planar, discrete patterns. Although they boast promising applications, knowledge of their properties on a 3D scale is limited and no m…

AnyFIN Is Possible! Testing Various Flyfishing Structures to Determine Which Fly Structure Has the Best Surface Tension

Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) Second Award

Objectives In brief, this project is to learn which of the three main "fly" designs used in targeting top-water fish in fly fishing will have the highest level of stickiness to the water s s…

Can Sodium Bicarbonate Be Used to Kill Mosquito Larvae?

Toxicology Second Award

Objectives The objective of this project was to determine if sodium bicarbonate can be used as an economical, efficient, and environmentally-safe method to control the mosquito larvae popula…

Chili Plaster Pain Relief

Mammalian Biology Second Award

Objectives Nowadays consumers are buying organic materials rather than synthetic chemicals. We are aiming to relieve common pains such as arthritis, back pain, muscle pain, and gout pain usi…

Comparing the Efficacy of Backcountry Water-Treatment Methods

Product Science (Biological) (Junior Division Only) Second Award

Objectives Most water purifiers designed for hikers claim to eliminate over 99% of bacteria. I tested four different water-purifiers for my project: a hollow-membrane filter (Sawyer Squeeze)…

Determining the Roles of CuSB, Flagellin, and AcrAB-TolC in Bacterial Responses to Nonlethal Nanosilver Concentrations

Microbiology (General) Second Award

Objectives Renowned as potent antimicrobials, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have recently been integrated into several industries for a vast array of purposes, from countering HIV strains to…

Developing Compostable and Water-Soluble Algal Bioplastics by Repurposing Waste Products of Algal Biofuel Production

Environmental Engineering Second Award

Objectives Plastic pollution is becoming an environmental crisis, with over 40% of the ocean being covered in floating plastic. The purpose of this research was to determine the sustainabili…

Do Antioxidants Prevent Chemotherapy Cell Toxicity?

Microbiology (General) Second Award

Objectives The purpose of this project is to find the best way to treat cancer without causing harm to healthy cells. After reading more in depth about cancer and chemotherapy, I learned tha…

Effect of the Amount of Glycerin on the Strength of Starch-Based Bioplastics

Chemistry Second Award

Objectives Bioplastics address some of the environmental and health concerns of synthetic plastics. A plasticizer makes bioplastics flexible and strong. The objective of this project was to…

Electromagnetic Fields Inhibit Cancer Proliferation: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Improve Treatment

Toxicology Second Award

Objectives We aimed to explore the effects of low-frequency EMFs on selective inhibition of cancer cells, associated biological/molecular responses and cell-death pathways. Our in vitro stud…

Exploring New Alloys for Low Cost Thermoelectric Generation

Materials Science (Junior Division Only) Second Award

Objectives The purpose of my project was to create sintered alloys and test their efficiency in converting heat into electricity to build a thermoelectric generator that would be cheaper tha…

High-Stratospheric Testing of Novel Cosmic Ray Shielding Composites

Physics & Astronomy Second Award

Objectives Cosmic rays are an unsolved problem in space exploration. While manned Mars missions are possible with current propulsion systems, the threat of cosmic radiation has not been addr…

Identification and Characterization of Novel Potential Antibiotics Targeting Bacterial Motility

Microbiology (Medical) (Junior Division Only) Second Award

Objectives The objective of this study is to identify which phytochemical or synergistic combination of phytochemicals of P. granatum is responsible for its motility-inhibiting effects on ba…

Investigating the Electrostatic Effects of Striking a Tennis Ball with a Tennis Racquet

Physics & Astronomy Second Award

Objectives The objective of this study is to determine whether charge forms on a tennis racquet and a tennis ball as a result of the racquet hitting the ball. Methods 1. Construct electrodes…

Investigating the Inhibitory Effect of Psidium guajava Leaf Extract on Carbohydrate Digestive Enzymes

Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology Second Award

Objectives The objective of this experiment is to determine if the extract from Psidium guajava leaves inhibits the activity of invertase, lactase, amylase, and amyloglucosidase (enzymes tha…

Is Biotin the Answer? Planaria and Nervous Tissue Regeneration

Zoology Second Award

Objectives The objective of my study is to see whether Planarian flatworms can demonstrate nervous tissue regeneration under the influence of the natural supplements: Biotin, Vitamin D, Vita…

Jasmonic Acid Regulation of Abiotic Stresses in Brassica rapa and Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant Biology Second Award

Objectives To test if jasmonic acid is a feasible solution to combatting drought and salinity stresses in two types of plants, Brassica rapa and A. thaliana. Methods Planted 50 Brassica rapa…

Machine Learning Ensemble Model for Improved Personalized Lung Cancer Risk Assessment and Malignant Nodule Detection

Computational Systems & Analysis (Senior Division Only) Second Award

Objectives Current screening guidelines omit a large number of high-risk candidates that do not fit the traditional screening criteria. Furthermore, malignant lung nodule detection on CT sca…

Miniature Wireless Charging: The Future of Charging Hearing Aids

Electronics & Electromagnetics Second Award

Objectives The goal of my engineering project was to create a functional miniature wireless charger that could be modified for a lithium-ion button cell battery in a hearing aid. Currently,…

Modeling Neurodegeneration in vitro: A Dynamic Study of Tau in a Microfluidic Chamber System via Quantum Dot Labeling

Mammalian Biology Second Award

Objectives Current research suggests that toxic tau aggregates propagate from neuron to neuron in a prion-like manner. However, no dynamic proof exists to trace tau s transmission and traffi…

No Smoke Without Fire: The Impact of Wildfires on Exposure to Particulate Pollutants

Earth & Environmental Sciences Second Award

Objectives To evaluate exposure to particulate pollutants from wildfire smoke, PM2.5, PM1, and black carbon (BC) concentrations were monitored during wildfires and after extinguishment. The…

Optimal Phased Array Antenna Systems for Radio Astronomy

Electronics & Electromagnetics Second Award

Objectives Collecting cosmic data to understand the universe and its beginnings is very time-consuming and expensive. Current radio stations require vast areas of isolated space and expensiv…

Petrochemical Waste Clean-up Using Polymers: A Proof of Concept

Environmental Engineering Second Award

Objectives Petrochemical waste cleanup is expensive but important. This project began with the hypothesis that polymers could be used to capture both oil and waste water. Following research…