Ames High 2012 STARR Grant Winners

By Kathy Hanson

Ames Community School District's Community and Media Relations Director

Ames High School Honors and earth science students are leveraging their curiosity to further their research and grant writing experience.

Students in DeAnna Tibben’s classes seized an opportunity offered by the Frank Starr Memorial Iowa Junior Academy of Science Grant Fund and the Iowa Academy of Science to learn about the grant writing process and gain a chance to earn money to support their science fair projects.

In November 2012, students sent the Academy 60 research proposals, 29 of which applied for grants. The Academy selected 11 of these 29 proposals as 2012 STARR Grant Winners, with grant awards totaling nearly $664. Grant awards vary from $20 to $200.

All Honors & Earth and Space Science projects will be on display and open to the public from 5-7 p.m. in the Ames High School Cafeteria Monday, March 4, 2013.

Grant winners are below:

Max Wei, Luke Fernando: “Wind & Temperature and Its Effects on Mental Tasks.”

Burhan Syed, Nathan Chen, Seong Woo Shin: “Water Quality.”

Jonah DeGeest: “Which Potting Soil Grows the Most Healthy Plants?”

Truman Meyer, Ben Popken: “The Effects of Green Versus Conventional Laundry Detergents on the Environment.”

Hannah Hartman: “The Reverse Crash Effect and its Relation to ADHD.”

Alex Gurganus: “Is There a Difference in Energy Given Off Between Softwood and Hardwood Pellets?”

Kate Murray: “The Force of Wave Collisions.”

Michelle Hu: “The Effects of Different Material-Based Bio-Char on Soybeans.”

Ben Sulzberger, Daniel Andreotti: “Effects on 2nd Generation Plants Based on the Environment Experienced by First Generation Plants.”

Macy Vollbrecht, Mattie Kupfer: “Pollution from Water to Plants.”

Padmashree Rajagopalan: “Topsoil Erosion.”

The grant winning projects will compete among others at the State Science & Technology Fair at the Iowa State Center on April 5, 2013 and April 19, 2013, at Simpson College.