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Ohio State U. hosted State Science Day awards top $3.2 million
(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 26, 2006 (The Lantern, U-WIRE via COMTEX) --After folding the cardboard displays, powering down the laptops and piling into the family car, the revised tally awarded to students at the 58th annual State Science Day eclipsed the $1.7 million expectation by almost double.
The total number of awards increased to over 100 while the total dollar amount surpassed $3.2 million in cash and scholarships. Seventh through 12th graders representing 301 schools from 68 counties throughout Ohio received the awards.
"We were thrilled to see the numbers increasing the day of the event. It just shows the quality of the work that the students submitted," said Tony Basil, director of the Office of Continuing Education.
"It is nice to recognize these students and their projects, which have been outstanding. It is so important to recognize education concentrating on science," said Bobby Moser, dean of the college of food, agriculture and environmental science. "To be vying for this much money may just rank (this science fair) at number one in the country."
Starting at the local level, more than 35,000 students from more than 1,000 Ohio schools competed for the ability to continue at the district level. This year 1,161 students received a superior rating, becoming eligible for the 2006 statewide competition. Judges evaluated student projects on knowledge achieved, effective use of the scientific method, clarity of expression, originality and creativity.
"State Science Day is Ohio's pinnacle of Ohio student-originated, inquiry-based science education," said Lynn Elfner, chief executive officer of The Ohio Academy of Science.
In addition to the increase in scholarships, the Environmental Education Fund, a part of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, presented $100 prizes to winners of the Governor's Awards for Environmental Protection Research. The winners included students in each grade level in four categories, from first place to honorable mention.
Winning entries included a three-year study of water quality in Massie Run Creek by Rowan Baird, an eighth grader at Paint Valley Middle School in Ross County, and a study on replacing petroleum fuel with alcohol blended with orange and pine oils by Raymond Tan, a ninth grade student at William Mason High School in Warren County.
The EEF is funded by one-half of the civil penalties collected by the EPA for air and water pollution control violations. It also supports grants of up to $50,000 for environmental education projects, targeting students at the grade school level, the university level, teachers, the public and the regulated community.
The department of conference management in the Office of Continuing Education signed a deal with the Ohio Academy of Science to host State Science Day for another five years.
"It is a great opportunity," Basil said. "It is an invaluable program that not only expands the much needed field of science but also exposes prospective students to Ohio State."
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