ASPB Presents Its First Science Fair Awards

Tom Sarko - February, 2010

The 53rd Annual Palm Beach County Science and Engineering Fair Award Ceremony was held on February 4, 2010, at Palm Beach Central High School. For the first time in the fair's history, awards for outstanding astronomy projects were presented on behalf of the Astronomical Society of the Palm Beaches. In the Junior Division, Synthia Hadis of Palm Springs Middle School received the book, Parks After Dark: A Beginner's Guide to Stargazing in the National Parks, and a NASA Hubble Space Telescope poster. Synthia's project, in the Earth and Planetary Science category, was titled, "How Star Numbers Differ Due to Light Pollution." Synthia also placed 4th overall in her category. In the Senior Division, Alexandra Robinson of Jupiter High School received the book, The Day We Found the Universe, and one of Fred Lehman's stunning Andromeda Galaxy prints. Alley's project, in the Physics and Astronomy category, was titled, "The Expansion of the Universe: Calculating Red Shift." Alley also placed 3rd overall in her category, and you may remember her as last year's ASPB scholarship winner.

The Palm Beach County Science and Engineering Fair is the largest academic event held in Palm Beach County and the longest continuously running regional Science and Engineering Fair in the state of Florida. The event was held on December 7-9, 2009 at the South Florida Fair and Americraft Expo Center. Over 1200 students and 200 judges attended this regional science competition. The judges, including ASPB member Tom Sarko, are volunteers from within our community's universities, schools, businesses and industries. They evaluated the projects based on creative ability, scientific thought or engineering goals, thoroughness of the investigation of the topic, skill in use of scientific tools, and clarity of analysis of the results.