Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Local students shine in DelVal Science Fair
Three Malvern Prep students from a new Science Research course, Zach DeStefano ‘17, Turner Emery ’17 and Adam Morys ‘19, recently competed and placed in the Chester County Science Research Competition and the Delaware Valley Science Fair in March.
In the year-long Science Research course, taught by teachers Dr. James Fry and Mrs. Anna Geider, students explore a topic of their choice to research and present a final project on at the end of the year.
“The course is designed to be 90 percent online and independent work,” said Fry. “We designed it similar to a college-level thesis or capstone class to give the boys the experience of working independently, but also requiring checkin’s with myself, Anna or another member of the Science Department.”
“Conducting research for the course has helped to prepare me for more extensive college-level research projects,” notes DeStefano.
At the Chester County Science Research Competition DeStefano placed first in Computer Science (11th Grade Fair), Emery placed second in Engineering (11th Grade Fair) and received the Excellence in Engineering Award, and Adam Morys placed second in Engineering (9th Grade Fair).
At the Delaware Valley Science Fair Zach DeStefano placed second in Computer Science (11th Grade Fair) and received a $12,000 annual scholarship from the University of the Sciences, as well as an invitation to participate as a presenter in NanoDay at the University of Pennsylvania in October. Emery received an Honorable Mention in Engineering (11th Grade Fair), the Arizona State University Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives Award and a nomination to compete for a Grand Prize trip to Arizona in 2017. Morys received the Naval Science Award.
Emery drew inspiration from his upcoming service trip to South Africa for his project.
“I read about the difficulty the local Zulu people have in obtaining water for their food crops,” said Emery. “Because of the lack of plumbing and irrigation systems, they often must carry water over long distances on foot. As such, plants can only be watered occasionally. The goal of my project was to create a low-to-nocost device from recycled material that could be made locally in areas with limited rainfall but at a dew point that could be utilized. I tested four prototype plant collars that could be used to collect dew to aid crop survival when rainfall is scarce. The most promising of the four prototypes was tested using a special terrarium setup. Initial testing indicated that the presence of the collar did help keep Oregon Snow Pod pea plants alive without water for extended periods.”
Morys built a tracker using Lego Mindstorms and Mathworks that tracks the International Space Station (ISS). The track points to the proper azimuth and elevation of the ISS.
Students presented their projects to the Malvern Community on Wednesday, April 27 during the Science Symposium.