Fairchild Wheeler STEM Students Bloom in District Science Fair

Juan Pablo Galicia wants to study psychology eventually, but the teen has something else more practical on his mind in the meantime: a better ergonomic keyboard.

Galicia, of Bridgeport, a 17-year-old senior at the Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School in Bridgeport, pitched his idea at the school' s science fair Thursday night (Sept. 9). His was among more than 100 projects on display from the Aerospace, Biotech, and IT Software Engineering sections of the magnet school.

“It’s going to be a little more affordable,” said Galicia. “I want to help everyone. Everyone uses keyboards.”

His plan calls for attaching a memory foam wrist rest and some other minor improvements, which he conceived of when researching ideas for a major assignment called the Capstone Project. Every Fairchild magnet school student must complete one before they graduate.

He said he typed so long that his wrists started to hurt, then had an epiphany. “What could be wrong with a keyboard?” he said. “About 10 million people today are affected by carpal tunnel syndrome.”

Galicia added that he plans to create a prototype later this year.

Other topics included shoe friction, a comparison of the conductivity of citrus fruits and how electromagnetism affects plants. Kaitlynn Joseph, 15, a sophomore in the Biotech school, was intrigued with UV beads, which change color in warm temperatures.

“I wanted to know if you could use those UV beads … to detect when to reapply sunscreen,” said the Stratford resident. She also noted that getting a sunburn more than five times doubles the chances of getting skin cancer.

She applied four sun-blocking oils to the beads and timed how long it took for the beads to change color, indicating the oils had stopped working. Some of the oils were supposed to last two hours, but the longest-lasting one was zinc oxide, which stopped working after nine minutes. The shortest time as 42 seconds, Joseph added.

Fashion also played in the project. “I thought it could be nice to make a bracelet out of them,” Joseph said. “It's a fun way to know when to re-apply sunscreen.”

While her results were not what she hoped for, she did learn the scientific method and how to persist. “It's saying, ‘It won't work this way, and to try different ways’,” Joseph added. In the end, Joseph placed second in the 10th grade level.

Ty Roberts, 15, of Stratford, an aspiring surgeon, focused on the effect of heat and cold in muscle performance. "The cool tightens the blood vessels and makes it hard for the muscles to contract," Roberts said.

Other exhibits included a satisfaction survey and a study of what drinks stain the most.

Margaret Carlson, 14, of Shelton, picked GIFs from the Web and used them to survey male and female teens between ages 13 and 18. Some of the scenes depicted images of a digital ball bouncing around a screen and another of a ball that did not bounce. Others showed a golf putt that barely misses a hole and a perfect wave in a wave pool.

The project’s goal was to measure satisfaction in the viewers and perhaps reveal differences in thinking between genders, Carlson said.

Cecelia Parreiras, 14, of Stratford, and Kaya Indyk, 14, of Monroe, measured the differences between heart rates of athletes and non-athletes before and after exercise and found their hypothesis disproved. “The males had a higher heart rate increase,” Parreiras said.

The science fair winners who advanced to the Bridgeport District Fair on Feb 11th could move as a high as the state and national science fair, said Cynthia Crudale, a teacher in Biotech.

The Bridgeport District Fair winners from the school were: Zoltan Makroczi and Ryan Borque, third place in 9th grade (Aerospace); Sai Kulkami and Carolina Maia, third place in 10th grade (Biotech); Michelle Sandi and Simon Vallejo, second place in 11th grade (Biotech); and Maleska Hernandez, first place, and Munetsugu Kojima, second place, in 12th grade (Biotech).

Marcus Alexander and Vyanka Paneta came first in the controlled experiment category.
The science fair projects were displayed in the school lobby but upstairs were the Capstone Projects. The school requires students in all three wings to identify a problem or research and compile data projects. The first phase is research, for one semester, and the second phase is the completion of the project.

The students make a formal presentation in the end, and also learn to network and teach. Scientific research, collaboration, communication and creativity “all come together to allow [students] to explore the current field of science and see where they fit into it,” Crudale said.
“They're the experts in what they researched and developed,” she added. “I tell them they should think of this as a networking night.”

At least two students’ ideas have advanced beyond the Magnet school. Candace Peterkin was awarded a grant after her project evolved into an online magazine, https://sheisartmagazine.com, the teacher said.

The magnet school’s enrollment is based on the lottery system and it accepts students from Bridgeport and surrounding communities including Monroe, Trumbull, Stratford, Easton, and Shelton. For more information about the schools, contact the Main Office (203) 275-3337 or online at Information Sign-up.

The school also offers “state-of-the-art facilities,” up to two years of Advanced Placement (AP) and Early College Experience (ECE) courses, robotics and Mac Labs and project-based, thematic learning. Students also have the highest Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores in the district.