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Real-life events inspire students at the Coastal Bend Regional Science Fair

Posted at 7:11 PM, Feb 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-16 20:11:36-05

The love of science took over the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi for the Coastal Bend Regional Science Fair.

Twenty-eight districts from several schools participated. All ages were in included in this competition from the little ones in kindergarten through the fifth graders in one category.

The older students who are in the 6th grade through seniors in high school.

“Asking them questions makes them feel really important and they are able to answer them in a logical way,” says Dr. Debra Plowman.

Over five hundred students participated in the competition with projects ranging from the Nurdle Patrol, testing magnets, or even seeing how many ballons it takes for a doll to fly.

However, many students like 9-year-old Samwel Utley were inspired by real events.

Utley realized many people in South Texas lost their electricity when Hurricane Harvey devasted the area, so he tested items in his house to see what could produce electricity.

“I figured maybe we still do have some electricity because maybe lemons can produce that electricity,” says Utley.

Other students had fathers who work in the oil field and in a joint project presented by two eighth graders, these young scientists tested oil field workers suits.

They were able to see how these uniforms can catch fire on the field, especially when these workers are dealing with oil and other chemicals.

Their goal was to study different ways how to prevent a fire happening to these oil field workers.

“We don’t want people to die because it’s already dangerous in the oil field by its self with all the fires and oil,” says Leroy Adams.

The top winners will be able to advance to the 2019 State Science Fair Competition located in Bryan Texas.