Middle school girls compete at Science Olympics

Posted by: Debbie Bowley on Thu, 03 June 2010 18:44:41

On May 15, 132 middle school girls formed 33 teams from schools throughout Fairfield and New Haven Counties and went for the “gold” at Lauralton Hall’s annual spring Science Olympics. Students competed in the following activities: 
* Determining a method to calculate density using only water and oil; followed by using what they learned to create a lava lamp
* Using volume and weight relationships to calculate the number of M & M candies in a bottle, with the winners taking the bottle home.
* Negotiating a maze using Bernoulli’s principle of air pressure

The girls were also entertained by Demos-R-Us, a company consisting of a retired University of Connecticut physics professor and some of his colleagues and students.  They demonstrated temperature/volume relationships using liquid nitrogen - a marshmallow and a balloon collapsed in the cold; and some fun electricity demos using a Van de Graff generator which made the girls’ hair stand on end.

With the help of Lauralton faculty and students, participants “competed” in problem-solving events. Students worked in teams, with the winners as follows:

In the 8th grade category:
1st place: team #22 - The Neurons from Edgewood Magnet School in New Haven: Christine Puglisi, Sarah Lincoln, M. Keenan Connors, and Shea Connors
2nd place: team #13 - The Orbitals: Victoria Cilurzo, Amber Mugford, Kayleigh Mudosh, and Alyssa Mae Celone
3rd place: team #27 - The Arteries from Park City School in Bridgeport: Sundus Aden, Jazmine Rodrigues, Nayanka Duplan, and Meghan Waller

In the 7th grade category:
1st place: team #31 - The Archimedes: Jenna Amoroso, Brianna Bursey, Julianne Carey, and Alana DeRubis
2nd place: team #9 - The Apples from Trinity Catholic Middle School in Stamford:  Maria Caponetti, Chelsea Campana, Katharina Focke, and Brianna Samaranayake
3rd place: team #25 - The Carotids from St. Joseph School: Veina Pillai, Sydney Carter, Jen Gorel, and Malkia Okech
     
In the 6th grade category:
1st place: team #15 - The Velocities from St. Ambrose in Bridgeport:  Ciara Negron Rivera, Dalirys Rodriguez, Sabrina Cobty, Chanelle Mattis, and Jazmin Cooper
2nd place: team #10 - The Vertebrates from Edgewood Magnet School in New Haven: Isabel Kristan, Emily Kane, Rowyn Davis, and Carrie Beech
3rd place: team #3 - The Forces from Greenwich Catholic School in Greenwich: Kate Sullivan, Susannah LaPointe, Julianna Armentano, and Rachel Cohane

Combined grades category:
1st place: team #18 - The Electrons from St. Ann School in Milford: Nicole Veeley, Megan McAndrew, Margaret Gallagher, and Paige Vollero
2nd place: team # 24 - The Darwinians; McKenzie Tavella from All Saints School, Jalissa Maldonado from St. Ann School, and  Malenky Welsh from Betsy Ross Magnet School in New Haven.
3rd place: team # 33 - The Medullas from Wintergreen Magnet School in Hamden: Vanessa Brokaw, Nicole Vilkes, Maya Caicedo, and Sally Ferris

Lauralton Hall hosts Science Olympics twice each year. Schools, students or teachers interested in learning more should contact scavar@lauraltonhall.org.