BUDDING SCIENTISTS SHOW OFF THEIR WORK

The Jackson Middle School held its annual science fair Thursday night. The fair showcased the students' interest in various areas of science.

The science fair entries ranged from how to clean up an oil spill to whether a dog is colorblind. Whatever interested the 117 entrants made its way to the show room floor for the fair.

Elizabeth Nussbaum won the grand champion award and a $50 gift certificate for her entry, "Rapid Rabbit Results."

She compared the weight gain in rabbits that ate either Nutrena feed or COOP feed. In the final analysis, she concluded that rabbits on Nutrena feed gained an average of 2.92 pounds as compared to COOP feed which netted a 2.45 pound average weight gain in rabbits.

Gene Jalnore, sixth-grade science teacher, said the students were given the extra credit assignment two months ago. The students for the most part came up with the ideas for their project on their own.

The school library, Riverside Regional Library and Jackson Public Library provided the books from which most of the students found what they would like to learn about.

The fair was set up in two parts, some students performed experiments and others created models to explain scientific principles.

"There were just some amazing projects from both grades," Jalnore said.

The science fair is a way to promote interest in science and a chance for the children to show off what they've learned.

About one in seven students at the school participated in this year's fair. They all will receive extra credit.

First-place winners in each class and grade were awarded a medal and $25 gift certificates. Second- and third-place winners were awarded medals for their studious work.

Ryan Sitzes, sixth-grade winner for models, demonstrated how submarines submerge under water. He did this by building a model that shows how the ballast tank fills with water to submerge the submarine.

Rodney Riehn, who won third place in seventh-grade models, showed how a gas gauge in a vehicle works.

He acquired the parts from an auto salvage business and he went to work to show how the gas gauge measures the amount of gas in the tank.

More than 70 people came out to view the science projects and many were impressed with what they saw.

Jackson Middle School Science Fair Winners

Grand Champion- Elizabeth Nussbaum

Experiments

Sixth Grade

1st Place--Justin Gibbs

2nd Place--Melinda Steuerwald

3rd Place--Christy Pelikan

Seventh Grade

1st Place--James Benson

2nd Place--Kirk Powers

3rd Place--Meagan Brazer

Models

Sixth Grade

1st Place--Ryan Sitzes

2nd Place--Kali Niswonger

3rd Place--Joanna Friese

Seventh Grade

1st Place--Amber Ryan

2nd Place--Jessica Bill

3rd Place--Rodney Riehn