Sixth-Grader Wins at State Science Fair

scifairwin042: Science Fair WinnersSing Lum School sixth-grader Ilyssa Espiritu took a scientific approach to prove dressing for success works and as a result earned a gold medal in the Junior Division (grades 6-8) Social Science category at the 53rd annual California Science Fair held May 25 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

“I thought science was boring in the beginning,” Espiritu said. “Then my dad gave me this idea to dress up differently to see what kind of reactions I would get, and I thought, ‘this could be fun.’”

Espiritu’s entry was called “Excuse Me, Do You Have the Time? — Responses Recorded Dressed as a ‘Tomboy’ as Opposed to a ‘Young Lady.’” While her mother hid in a van videotaping reactions, Espiritu asked questions of 50 people in a shopping center parking lot. Their responses were played back as evidence for her exhibit at the science fair.

Espiritu would ask passers-by for the time. She would alternate her attire from that of a “tomboy” to that of a “young lady.” Her project hypothesis was that clothes matter. Espiritu rated their responses as ‘extremely helpful,’ ‘helpful,’ ‘no response,’ ‘no eye contact,’ ‘impatient’ and ‘asked a question.’ All of the positive responses were higher for the ‘young lady.’ In fact, five percent of the people gave her ‘no response’ at all when she was dressed as a ‘tomboy,’ while the ‘young lady’ always got a response.

“I’m kind of more into science now,” Espiritu said. “I’ve discovered it’s kind of fun to experiment with social science and discover reactions. It has definitely changed my way of thinking. Now I know why my mom wants me to dress up.”

Espiritu topped a list that included 11 students from Kern County who earned honors at the science fair. There were two third place finishers from Kern County. They were Standard Middle School eighth-grader Alex Thompson and Desert High School (Edwards Air Force Base) junior Cori Holmes. Holmes’ Senior Division (grades 9-12) Aerodynamics/Hydrodynamics project, “Blunt vs. Tapered: Determining Which Creates the Most Drag,” tested the wind resistance various shaped cargo carriers mounted on vehicle roofs created and how that effected gas mileage. Thompson’s Junior Division Microbiology entry was titled “Do Different Diets in Ruminant Animals Affect the Microorganism Colony Growth.”

Eight Kern County students received Honorable Mention awards. They were:

Junior Division

Applied Mechanics/Structures & Mechanisms/Manufacturing — Norris Middle School eighth-grader Carolyn Ewert

Biochemistry/Molecular Biology — Warren Junior High seventh-grader Iris Liu

Environmental Science — Actis Junior High seventh-grader William Piper

Materials Science — Greenfield Junior High eighth-grader Travis Henderson

Senior Division

Aerodynamics/Hydrodynamics — Desert High junior Christopher Simpson

Environmental Engineering — Stockdale High sophomores Shelly Patel, Shivani Softa and Caelan O’Sullivan

Piper also received a California State Science Fair $25 Honorable Mention Recognition Award from the Health Physics Society, Southern California Chapter.

Sixty-five Kern County students were among the 924 participants from approximately 350 schools throughout the state competing for awards totaling over $50,000 at the California Science Fair. Local students earned the right to compete by finishing first or second among approximately 600 students at the 17th annual Kern County Regional Science Fair administered by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools on March 31 in Bakersfield.
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