Ocean Springs High School Announces Science Fair Winners

Over thirty Ocean Springs High School students took part in the school’s science fair Tuesday with placing participants earning a spot in Region VI competition in March in Biloxi.

Lori Nelson, a biology teacher at Ocean Springs High School and organizer of the school’s science fair, said the students benefit from going through the process of research, interpretation and presentation.

“They are learning how to do good science,” said Nelson. “They are learning how to design an experiment, collect enough valid data, and how to word that information in a paper.”

The experiments have to meet certain conditions before students can enter them into the contest.

“Students get to choose their own experiments, but they have to go through an approval process,” said Nelson. “They can’t do anything that is just discovery or pure research. They have to have an experiment that has controls and variables, and they also have to pick an experiment that does not have a known outcome.  They have to come up with something that is innovative and adds to science knowledge.”

Drew Jones, who took on an experiment near to the hearts of many on the Coast, attempted to determine what type of bait–chicken, fish or hot dogs–works best when crabbing.

“Going crabbing here or there made me wonder what type of bait would catch more crabs,” said Jones. “My research showed that crabs are more attracted to chicken. I honestly thought they would be more attracted to fish since they are both aquatic.”

Overall, 36 students presented experiments in eight different categories: behavioral and social science, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, earth, space, and environmental science, medicine and health, microbiology, and physics.

The winners are as follows:

Behavioral and Social Sciences: 1^st Place-Adora Norman, 2^nd Place-Valencia Shuler, Honorable Mention-Gabby Cruz

Botany: 1^st Place-Jon Beatty

Chemistry: 1^st Place-Mariana Strawn

Earth, Space, and Environmental Sciences: 1^st Place-Amelia Moore, 2^nd Place-Sukhi Borse, 3^rd Place-Caroline Wiygul, Honorable Mention-Sadie Smith

Medicine and Health: 1^st Place-Carter Brown

Physics: Honorable Mention-Kiara Batson