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#sciencefair

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"On Tuesday, Chanda stood alongside roughly two dozen other scientists in the lobby of the #RayburnHouse Office Building on #capitolHill for what resembled a #scienceFair — but with a twist. Instead of students presenting class projects, the event featured leading researchers from across the country standing in front of posters outlining their work — and the federal cuts that now threaten it.

Attendees said the event, which was organized by Democrats on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, was meant to showcase the kind of future advancements in science and medicine that may be lost because of the cuts."

good on you dem nerds.

npr.org/2025/07/09/nx-s1-54610

Another Visit To The Denver Metro Regional Science Fair (DMRSEF) As A Judge
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clas.ucdenver.edu/denverscienc <-- link to science fair page
--
Another year as a volunteer judge for the DMRSEF, this time Senior Earth & Environmental - and with the added fun of four (4) special awards to decide (thank you to the sponsors/organisations!)
This is the ninth year for me, mentioned only to indicate how fun & genuinely rewarding it can be, such truly amazing student entries – and also mentioned to encourage you to volunteer to be a judge at one as well, the proverbial #payingitforward
(I always try and wear a nerd shirt, hence the egregious photo of me 😛 - and the sign, well... )
#sciencefair #science #fair #middleschool #highschool #volunteer #earthscience #environmentalscience #k12 #openscience #education #DMRSEF #seniors #volunteersneeded #nerd #geek #judge
@DMRSEF @nasa @NOAA @ricohusainc @CUDenver

My high school sophomore has done a #sciencefair project that I'm actually interested in and it's kinda cool.

The effect of water temperature on laundry detergent effectiveness.

The idea is that common laundry detergents (we picked just one brand) say that they're just as effective in cold water as they are in hot. So, are they?

The science fair rules at the school prohibit brand comparisons. So we're not comparing different detergents, we have just 1. The variable is water temperature.

So my son and his partner did 2 white fabric types (cotton and polyester), 4 common stains (tomato sauce, dirt, grass, coffee) with 2 trials in hot and 2 trials in cold water. A total of 2 x 4 x 2 x 2 == 32 squares (plus 4 reference squares that never got stained, only unstained and washed).

We took photos with controlled lighting and such (to the best you can in a living room). We converted the color photos to greyscale and took an average pixel value. (This is where it gets really crude)

The idea is that the fabric starts near white (226 average pixel value). We stain it and it gets darker (e.g., 86 average pixel value). Then we wash it and it gets cleaner, and we get another pixel value (maybe 220).

So we're comparing images of washed fabric to see whether washing in hot versus washing in cold made a difference.

We are still looking at the numbers. But it's very interesting. He learned so much spreadsheets, er, I mean SCIENCE! Just the lessons of keeping all the samples straight, labeling them, being systematic about capturing data, doing math in spreadsheets. It was a great lesson.

It certainly helps to have a scientist like @steggy handy. She helped seed the idea and keep him sciencing right as he did all his samples.

The science fair was always one of our favorite school experiences. ⚗️ 🔬

@Gizmodo has their own online version for 2024 with a "celebration of research projects that tackled big problems and pushed their fields forward. The winning teams overcame huge challenges through creativity and persistence, and they inspire us to think more ambitiously about the technology and breakthroughs that will be possible in our lifetimes."

Check out this year's winners and let us know what you think: flip.it/j9HMzw

Gizmodo · The Winners of the 2024 Gizmodo Science FairA light-propelled spacecraft, infinitely recyclable plastic, and other inspiring projects earned trophies at this year's Science Fair.
Continued thread

Always A Pleasure To Be A Judge At the Denver Metro Regional Science & Engineering Fair (DMRSEF)
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clas.ucdenver.edu/denverscienc <-- DMRSEF home page
--
“The… Denver Metro Regional Science & Engineering Fair (DMRSEF) empowers the next generation of STEM professionals by fostering an enthusiasm for science and inquiry. Our annual event, held each February at CU Denver, offers students an opportunity to engage the Denver metro STEM community and to present their original research in an atmosphere of competition, creativity, education, and fun. All middle and high school students (grades 6-12) from the eight Denver metro counties (Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, and Summit) are eligible to compete in the DMRSEF…”
#stem #stemeducation #stemlearning #outreach #judge #sciencefair #education #dmrsef #engineeringfair #fair
@CUDenver @dmrsef

PDX friends - it's time to sign up to judge the science fair! nwse.org/judgequalifications/

for middle school judging, the criteria is simply "Judges should have some undergraduate coursework in the selected category, or experience in a related field." (they do love it if you have more school)

high school is great, and they need judges, but middle school is SO MUCH FUN. they are not stressed about what this will do to their college apps, they just explain earnestly