ENCINITAS — In the annual science fair at Rancho Encinitas Academy, eighth-grader, Erin Ulm won top honors.
Her project was based on whether organically or commercially grown oranges would produce more juice. According to her scientific results, she determined the organically grown oranges will produce an average of 21 percent more juice.
Ulm was surprised to learn she took first prize. “I couldn’t believe it. I was really happy,” she said.
Students were tasked with choosing a topic, asking themselves a question based on their topic and coming up with a hypothesis. Projects were judged in areas such as content, presentation, speech and clarity.
Second place honors were awarded to sixth-grader Owen Curran, whose experiment concluded most people prefer red or blue colored drinks. Curran also won the “Best Interview” award. Tied for third place was seventh-grader Ben Lazerson, who did an experiment about wind power, and seventh-grader Jeff Woolson, who was looking for the best golf ball to score a hole in one. The “Most Creative Display” award went to seventh-grader Jordan Gonyer, who brought live chickens in a coop to show the type of feed they preferred.
