Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Their class assignment was to complete a scientific experiment, and some Sweet Home Junior High students decided it was the time to test some popular myths.
In particular, a number made it their goal to find out which pop drink would react the most to Mentos candy.
“It’s like a huge rumor,” said Kyle Lewis said, who found that there was some substance to the stories about mixing Mentos and soda. “I tested it, and it kind of did work.”
Bridgette Shaddon discovered the Diet Coke created the biggest explosion.
She performed the experiment by putting Mentos into 2-liter bottles of different soft drinks, she said. The Diet Coke shot 10 feet into the air.
While several students experimented with Mentos and pop drinks, the eighth grade presented a wide variety of projects at a science fair on Friday.
There was innovation and some stimulating results.
Lewis noted that one classmate convinced her sister to give up her hair for an experiment. She wanted to see what was most flammable – hair, cloth or oak leaves. Another project cloned cabbage.
Ryan Butler tested whether a larger magnet in a direct current motor would make the motor spin faster.
“It was painful,” he said of the results. He used paper clips as connectors, and got shocked.
Mandi Binks experimented with raising tomatoes in different soils. Cheray Norman experimented with volcanoes, seeing which would fizz the most as a source of power for the volcano, baking soda or vinegar.
Megan Alfero discovered that it takes 252 licks to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop.
Robbie Schatz tested cat litter, figuring out whether name brand or generic was better. He went with name brand.
Another experiment put Duracell and Energizer batteries to a comparison test. With three AAA batteries in an LED flashlight, Energizer lasted longest at about 45 hours while Duracelle lasted a little more than 40 hours, the opposite of the experimenter’s hypothesis, based on anecdotal evidence.
This is the second year that Sweet Home Junior High science teachers Michelle Clarno and Diedra Little have had their eighth-graders put on the science fair.
All of the eighth graders are required to complete an individual inquiry project, Clarno said. Since October, they have been running experiments in areas that interest them.
“This is the final presenting of the work they’ve done throughout the year,” Clarno said.
Some of the eighth graders said the project was hard, and Clarno agreed.
“It is hard,” she said. “It has to be all of their own work. It keeps the kids interested in science and lets them show off what they’ve done.”
A group of judges selected the three top projects. The panel included Ted Drummond, Tiffany Young, Jesamyn Lair, Gil Long, Robert Canaday, Luke DiFalco, Hal Huschka, Jan Hufford, Matt Clarno, Marvin Wilson, Charles Lewis, Colleen Henry, Lisa Canaday and Tiffanie Lambert.
The results of the judging will be available in about a week, Clarno said. The top three projects go to Intel’s Nortwest Science Expo in Portland later in the year.
Last year, one of Sweet Home Junior High’s projects placed second in its category, Clarno said. That competition included 47 middle schools.
Clarno said the most interesting projects were those in which the student came up with his or her own idea. She was particularly interested in experiments dealing with bacteria.
One of those tested whether public phones or private home phones had more bacteria on them. The experiment showed public phones had more bacteria and a wider variety.
Clarno thanked local businesses that donated to the project, including A&W, Taco Time and Figaro’s Pizza.