Mid-Ohio Valley students compete in Regional Science Fair | News, Sports, Work

Ravenswood Middle School seventh-grader Milea Miihlbach talks with judge Candace Lewis Friday during the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center. Miihlbach’s project was on the growth of plants in different soil. She said she concluded that topsoil from her garden worked better than store-bought. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

VIENNA — Fifty-one projects by 64 students from five counties were on display Friday at the Grand Pointe Conference Center for the Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

One of these projects was “How Soil Affects Plant Growth!” by Milea Miihlbach, seventh grader at Ravenswood Middle School.

“It really opened my eyes to how nutrients affect plants and how they grow.” Michlbach said. “Now I’m really going to focus on how I fertilize my soil.”

Miihlbach conducted an experiment to test how yellow squash plants grow in different types of soil. She suggested that potting soil would be best for growing the plants in pots. However, the results showed that plants grew faster and healthier in topsoil collected from the student’s garden. Topsoil gave 5cm of growth in three weeks, while potting soil produced only 1.5cm of growth.

Miihlbach said her father was an agriculture teacher and he was a big influence on her project.

Ripley High students Jayden Guzman and Easton Hale speak before Judge Jason Potts at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center on Friday. Their project was titled “Investigating the Effects of Weight and Spine on Velocity” and looked at how this affects arrow flight. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

“He really taught me a lot as I got older,” Michlbach said. “And he really told me how nutrients can affect plants and even how they can affect how the animals you feed grow.”

She said nutrients already present in topsoil from decaying plant and animal waste, like her garden, support better growth. She said she would like to add additional experiments to test other types of soil such as clay or sand. Other factors that can affect plant growth, such as weather, soil properties and climate, also need to be studied, she said.

“There’s so much to do with how plants grow, it’s really interesting to me,” Michlbach said.

Ainsley Koreski, a seventh-grader at Edison Middle School, asked if the length of the string affects the number of swings the pendulum takes in one minute.

Koreski cut three strings to lengths of 16cm, 26cm and 36cm and then dropped them at a 45-degree angle with a pulley at the ends to see how many swings each could make in a minute. She concluded that the longer string swung 87 times, the medium string swung 70 times, and the smallest string swung 52 times.

Ripley High students Jayden Guzman and Easton Hale speak before Judge Jason Potts at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center on Friday. Their project was titled “Investigating the Effects of Weight and Spine on Velocity” and looked at how this affects arrow flight. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

“I was really surprised at the difference in the difference,” – said Koreski.

She said this kind of experiment is important for jobs in engineering and science, and that she enjoys public speaking. She has wanted to become a lawyer since she was little and likes to discuss different opinions and ideas.

“We used to have debates in elementary school where they would give two kids their side of the debate and they would have to debate against the other in front of the class and I love them because they are so much fun.” – said Koreski. “I just love debating and talking to people about different opinions and ideas and challenging each other about it. I just think it’s so interesting to see both sides of a situation.”

Ripley High School students Easton Haile and Jayden Goosman made their project “Investigation of the influence of weight and spine on speed.” The project looks at the kinetic energy of arrows and how factors such as the spine of an arrow affect its ability to fly.

“The main focus of the experiment was the spine,” Guzman said. “The spine of the arrows, the flexibility that it has, all the arrows bend. It’s called the Sagittarius Paradox.

“Just Swingin!” was a science project exhibited by Edison Middle School seventh-grader Ainslie Koreski at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center on Friday. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

Haile and Guzman said they are both avid hunters. They said this experiment is important because the arrow’s spine affects its ability to humanely kill animals such as deer during hunting.

“If you don’t have enough kinetic energy when you shoot an arrow, it won’t go all the way or it won’t go far enough to penetrate and make an ethical kill.” Haile said. “So you have to have enough kinetic energy.”

The couple said hunting for them is not just about killing. Both see hunting and managing deer populations as important to both sustaining the animals and providing food for local communities through meat donations. They also said that patience and preparation are key aspects of the sport and that they see bowhunting as a way to spend time in nature and find peace.

“It’s about getting out there and spending time in nature,” Haile said.

Guzman said it was his escape from everyday stress.

Addison Middle School seventh-grader Ainsley Koresky demonstrated how she used a 45-degree angle to test how quickly a puck tied to a string would lose momentum. Koresky said the longer string would start to slow down first and that she was surprised by these results. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

“I just sit there and let the birds chirp and everything happens around me,” Guzman said.

Douglas Huxley can be reached at [email protected]

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Edison Middle School seventh-grader Ainslie Koreski receives her first-place ribbon and medal from event coordinator Kayla Brown Friday at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center. Koresky won first place in the Physics and Astrology category for his project “Just A Swingin!” (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

Ravenswood Middle School seventh-grader Milea Miihlbach receives a 2nd place ribbon from event coordinator Kayla Brown Friday at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center. Miihlbach’s project was on the growth of plants in different soil. She said she concluded that topsoil from her garden worked better than store-bought. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

Ripley High School students Easton Haile and Jayden Goosman receive a 1st place medal and ribbon from event coordinator Kayla Brown Friday at the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center. The pair will advance to the state level with their project “Investigating the Effects of Weight and Spine on Speed.” (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

A group of Jackson County students that included Ravenswood Middle School seventh-grader Milea Michlbach, back row, second from left, and Ripley High students Jayden Guzman and Easton Hale, back row right, pose for a photo after the Regional Science and Engineering Fair held at the Grand Pointe Conference Center on Friday. A total of 51 projects by 64 students from five counties were on display, with the winners moving on to the WV State Science and Engineering Fair in March. (Photo: Douglas Huxley)

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