Sam Webber, an Amherst Elementary School fifth-grader, says he got the idea to “electrocute a pickle” for his science fair experiment from his dad. His father had subjected hot dogs to the treatment while in college.

“He couldn’t have a microwave in the dorm,” Sam explained. “So my dad would shock hot dogs. And he said they tasted better that way.”

Sam was one of 96 children from the county’s seven elementary and two middle schools to participate in this year’s Amherst County Extend Science Fair. The science fair, now in its sixth year, is held annually at Sweet Briar College.

The fair allows fifth- to eighth-graders to get a taste of what it is like to conduct real scientific research and to experience some of the scrutiny that goes along with it. Sweet Briar psychology students Alison Carr and Jessica Leonardi listen to Amherst Elementary School students describe their “Germ Education” project.

The students had to explain – to two separate teams of judges – what they did, the results, and how their projects relate to real life. Thirty-two Sweet Briar science majors acted as judges.

More than 70 table-top displays filled Sweet Briar’s Josey Dining Room in Prothro Hall, providing answers to everything from whether the color of a Tootsie Pop affects how many licks it takes to get to the center, to whether adding Mentos mints to soda pop will make it explode. Luckily for those who like to eat their Mentos with a Coke, that hypothesis was proved wrong.

The fair provides “a real growth experience for the students,” Gloria Preston, the county’s supervisor of enrichment and educational technology programs, said.

SBC sophomore Sara Garrett evaluates one of the 73 experiments presented at the science fair.
The SBC judges picked up on the confidence and energy that students like Webber brought to their projects.

“I was shocked to see how well they communicated what they did,” said sophomore Katie Webster, a biochemistry and molecular biology major.

This year, the county’s fourth-graders were invited for a sneak peak at what they can expect next year. They also got to judge the projects – using different criteria than the college students – and select the winners of what fair organizer and SBC chemistry professor Jill Granger called the “People’s Choice” awards.

The Sweet Briar judges selected 27 projects to advance to the “Discovery Science Challenge” at the Central Virginia Regional Governor’s School for Math and Science, which will be held in Lynchburg May 15. Webber’s “Electric Pickle” was among them.

Here’s a list of the other 26 projects and their creators.

Thomas Black – “Magnetic Fanatic”
Kody Burford – “Paper Airplanes”
Hannah Burley and Sahara Toler – “Coo Coo for Cocoa”
Kenna Dixon-Tract and Rachel Gries – “Germ Education”
Bevin Eastman – “Super Towels”
Casey Ferguson – “Colorful Power”
Danielle Granger – “Can You Hear Me Now?”
Jesse Granger – “Which Virginia Soil is Best for Growing”
Alex Hileman – “Uh-Oh!”
Julie Hilty and Gabby Morgan – “Organic vs. Non-Organic”
Ashley Humphries and Rachel Cope – “Rusting”
Danielle LaBar – “The Great Candle Race”
Kari Maines – “Photoelasticity”
Ryan Mattox and Cody Tyree – “Whose Penny is the Shiniest”
Phillip Mays – “The Biggest Paintball Splat”
Kyleigh Middleton – “How Refraction and Reflection Work”
Alex Morcom – “Water ‘Ph’acts”
Michael Orvos – “Don’t Let Your Daphnia Do Drugs”
Cailean Parker – “Boom”
Jacob Petchul – “Chlorine, Water and Plants”
Jessie Procopio and Natalia Muglia – “Which Surface is Best”
Brandon Sangston – “Heat It Up”
Parker Snyder – “Which Light Causes Quicker Evaporation”
Megan Taylor – “Stars”
Sam Tucker – “Rolling on the River”
Mathew Whitaker – “The Low-Down on Jell-O Break-down”

— By Michelle Lurch-Shaw, SBC staff writer