Not A Typical Science Fair

Sonora, CA – A twist on the conventional science fair, Tuolumne County Schools hosted the STEM Symposium and Expo at the Fairgrounds Thursday night.

Event goers got a chance to explore and engage in fun activities, as the students who had entered in the Rube Goldberg Machines and Robotics categories showed off their inventions. Additionally, there were many science fiction story and scientific illustration attractions to enjoy.  School officials say they were thrilled that this first year of this new format resulted in a bigger than expected response from students, as the goal was to create “something different” and involve students who had not participated in past STEM projects.

The final event of the evening, the Awards Ceremony, capped this year’s fair.  All students received a Certificate of Participation and a ribbon.  Here is the list of winners:

Award	Grade	School	Title	Name
Rosette	5th	Twain Harte	Should we use that gray water?	Emily Rich
Karen Bakerfield Award Best – Trophy	7th	Connections Academy	Sand Reflectance: Does Beach Sand Reflect More Light Than Desert Sand?	Taryn Tolhurst
Best – Trophy	6th	Soulsbyville	The Easy Spreader	Gregory Crook
Rosette	7th	Twain Harte	Can you upcycle a chainsaw into an RC car?	Tyler Lassa
Rosette	8th	Belleview	Haul’n Up The Hill	Ryan Dunlap
Rosette	8th	Soulsbyville	Got ZZZZZ…?	Alan Wells
Rosette	5th	Soulsbyville	Suck It Up!	Katie Dinatale
Rosette	5th	Columbia	Will Peace Lilies Absorb Food Coloring Through Their Roots and Into the Flower?	Danielle Insilan
Karen Bakerfield Award Best – Trophy	6th	Soulsbyville	Can I Drink That Water?	Sarah Bruno
Rosette	6th	Curtis Creek	Feel the Music	Jonah Gray
Rosette	6th	Soulsbyville	All Hands In	Emily Snyder
Best – Trophy	7th	Curtis Creek	Therapy Paws	Emily Van Noord, Addie McIlroy
Rosette	7th	Soulsbyville	Hungry for Science?	Vanessa Anderson
Rosette	7th	Columbia	Investigating Taste Zones in the Mouth	Kristina Thompson
Best – Trophy	8th	Soulsbyville	Musicophilla (the love of music)	Mika Taylor
Rosette	8th	Curtis Creek	Crabitats	Reese Parkan, Gabby McRee
Rosette	8th	Soulsbyville	Tiny Terrors on Your Toothbrush	Paul Bruce
Rosette	High School	Gold Rush	Does Personality Type Affect Color Preference?	Julianne Jarvis, Kenia Santos
Best – Trophy	5th	Soulsbyville	Got Vitamin C?	Hannah Husher
Rosette	5th	Curtis Creek	Gone With The Wind!	Mattie Knobloch
Rosette	5th	Curtis Creek	What’s Smoking?	Sofia Vasquez
Best – Trophy	6th	Gold Rush	How does the Amount of Pressure in a Potato Cannon Effect the Projectile Range?	Athan Tippett
Rosette	6th	Sonora	Improving Solar Panels	Bailey Johnson
Rosette	6th	Columbia	Reaction Rockets	Nathan Winans
Best – Trophy	7th	Curtis Creek	Methods of Cleaning Water	Vicente Redwing
Rosette	7th	Columbia	Tea Time	Makenzie Navarro, Anna Gillespie
Rosette	7th	Soulsbyville	Ohm Sweet Ohm	Robert Bollinger
Best – Trophy	8th	Curtis Creek	Magnet Muscle	Ryan St. Clair
Rosette	8th	Soulsbyville	Coolest Cooling	Jonas Gray
Rosette	8th	Curtis Creek	Can I Drink This?	Trent Tanko
Rosette	High School	Connections Academy	Will My Note Pan Out?	Cheyenne Simnitt