Tech Trek, a California AAUW program for girls entering 8th grade is a week-long camp at different universities during the summer (our girls usually go to Stanford University). Girls interested in science and math should seek a recommendation from a current teacher as part of the application process. AAUW Half Moon Bay branch usually send 5 girls to camp each year and a 6th candidate identified as an alternate or if possible to attend, space permitting.
Tech Trekkers Win Ribbons at 2015 Cunha Science Fair
by Julie Gerth, AAUW HMB’s Tech Trek Branch Coordinator
It’s Science Fair time again, and our 2014 Tech Trekkers — now eighth-graders at Cunha Middle School — explored some interesting topics. On Jan. 14, moms, dads, brothers, sisters and friends perused the aisles of colorful display boards showing a wide range of hypotheses, data — and sometimes surprising conclusions.
- Congratulations to Casey for her second-place award in the Physical Science category with her project that sought to discover which household appliances emit the highest levels of EMFs (electromagnetic fields), from 5 cm, 50 cm and 100cm away.
- Julie received a second-place ribbon for her test of how the varying pH levels in soft drinks break down tooth enamel. Her hypothesis was that Coca Cola would be the winner, but her conclusion stated that between water, coffee, Coke and lemon juice, it was the lemon juice that caused “a 40 percent change in the average overall mass decrease.”
- Michaela received second-place recognition with: “Mom’s Kitchen Sink Is Filthy: Let’s Clean It.” She tested whether chemical or natural cleaners were better at inhibiting bacterial growth. She used “sensitivity disc measurements and turbidity measurements to determine the effectiveness of the cleaners.” The concentration of the cleaner was a factor of course, and she found that hydrogen peroxide at 100 percent inhibited the most bacterial growth.
- Kasandra received honorable mention and was featured in a Jan. 14 Half Moon Bay Review article about the Science Fair in which she credited Tech Trek for her interest in food science. She was curious to see “Which gender of 13- to 14-year-olds will choose the correct serving size of Goldfish snacks?” She thought girls would be more savvy about portion size, but the boys in her study seemed to make better estimates.
- Cassidy also received honorable mention for tackling the tricky Behavioral Science category with her question about contextual memory: “Who is likely to make a better eyewitness: Millennials (developing brain) or Baby Boomers (deteriorating brain)?” She created a scenario about a grocery shopping trip with 20 items in the subject’s shopping cart. She showed her subjects five people in line with them. In the scenario the store is robbed at gunpoint and the witness-subjects are interviewed and must recall as many items in their cart as they can (proxy for detailed memory) and describe characteristics, from head to toe, of the gunman who was one of the five in line.
It’s always fun to see what ideas our Tech Trek campers come up with and how they apply their knowledge of the scientific method. First- and second-place winners will go on to compete at the San Mateo County Science Fair.
Tech Trekkers Post Diverse Hypotheses in 2014 Science Fair
- “In the Mood for Orange Juice” compared amounts of Vitamin C in different brands of OJ.
- Another camper has an interested in testing consumer products, which cleaners most effective at killing bacteria
- Tech Trekker conducted “Calorimeter Corner” and was the 3rd place winner on “Do other household liquids have a difference specific heat capacity than water?” in which data showed carbonated beverages were the highest.
- Scientist in the making entered rocket experiment asking “Do the fins of a rocket affect the height & distance it travels?”
- Student studied human behavior and gender differences in “Can’t You Just Image” asking “Are people as imaginative as they think they are?
Interesting to see the ideas of our former campers applying knowledge of the scientific method.