Does Osmosis Affect Gummy Bears?

The 28th Annual Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD) Science and Engineering Fair kicked off this past weekend, Feb. 20. Students filled the walls of Bloomington High School's auditorium with various science projects that they have been working hard on for the past few months. This year, an impressive number of 186 science projects were entered in the CJUSD Fair. Students throughout the District put on their thinking caps and tested out a range of topics. The simplest idea could bring forth a groundbreaking solution. Each student brought their A-game as they gathered their problem/question, procedures, materials used, the outcome, and more, all placed creatively on their science boards. Does hand sanitizer really work? What makes a baseball go farthest: aluminum or wood? Does the width of a rubber band affect how far it will stretch? These are all relatable questions that these students found the answers for. Grant Elementary School student Leslie Larios did her science project, asking herself "Does osmosis affect gummy bears?" "I had a lot of fun doing it," she said as she stood proudly next to her neatly done science board. Larios' board stood out in the auditorium filled with other projects due to the bright colors she used and the cute drawing of bears, gummy bears that is, that were sticking up over her board. "I wanted it that way," she said with a smile after telling her how bright her board looked. After students, parents, teachers, and community members had a chance to roam the auditorium and look at science projects that caught their eye; each young scientist from grade 6 to 12 gave a brief presentation describing their question, steps they took, and overall results of their project for judging. “The Colton Joint Unified School District has been fortunate to have 28 consecutive years of nominations to the California State Science Fair,” noted Joe Baca Middle School teacher Dr. Daniel Morse who coordinates the science fair every year. “Our students come a long way and get to explore topics that are more commonly done at the university level.” [END] Does texting affect the way someone walks? Can you make energy from garbage? What about more complicated issues such as “Arresting Mitotic Division in Allium cepa cells: Phase I Cancer Study” or “Using EEG as an Evaluative Tool for Sustained Concentration Studies: Phase III.” These and many other topics have been tackled by young scientists competing in the 28th annual Colton Joint Unified School District Science and Engineering Fair. The Science Fair takes place this Saturday, February 20 at Bloomington High School, 10750 Laurel Avenue in Bloomington. Students will set their projects up in the morning, followed by judging. Students in grades 6-12 will also give oral presentations to judges about their projects. The public may view projects from 8AM to 9AM and 4 PM-5 PM on Saturday. An awards ceremony takes place from 6:30 to 8:30 PM Monday, Feb. 22 in the Bloomington High School auditorium. Note: It is highly recommended that guests arrive by 6 PM as seating is limited. This year, 186 projects will vie for prizes. The top winners in grades 4-12 will move on to compete at the RIMS Inland Science and Engineering Fair, to be held April 5-6 at Bourns Technology Center in Riverside. Winners at the Inland Science Fair then advance the California State Science Fair in May. Students also may go on to compete at other large competition such as: Broadcom MASTERS, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, or the Google Science Fair. Science fair challenges students in grades K-12 to use the scientific method to test scientific hypotheses. The exercise helps students to use higher level thinking skills as well as presentation skills. “The Colton Joint Unified School District has been fortunate to have 28 consecutive years of nominations to the California State Science Fair,” noted Joe Baca Middle School teacher Dr. Daniel Morse, who has coordinated the science fair since it started. “Our students come a long way and get to explore topics that are more commonly done at the university level.”