What do Jeff Clark and coralline algae have in common?

If it sounds like a strange, and particularly Coastside, riddle, its not. Its just the question posed in Cunha Intermediate School eighth-grader Phoebe Wills science project exploring the growth of the algae at beaches and how it might be influenced by wave intensity. Her colorful poster board was one of dozens lining the Cunha gym on Monday morning, the day the assignment was due.

The science fair has been a long-standing tradition at Cunha. The event is more than 50 years old, and every year it is the culmination of months spent coming up with a project idea, testing a hypothesis and drawing a conclusion from research. Students take on topics ranging from the more traditional the science behind hitting a grand slam to the more unusual. One this year asks whether horses will stand in a different direction depending on the way the wind is blowing.

Eighth-grader Sophia Pappalardos project strikes a balance between a more popular type of science project at Cunha that which delves into psychology and a creative experimental process. She built an electromagnetic grid and asked people of varying ages to copy a paper clip pattern on the grid. What they didnt know as they attempted the seemingly simple task was that Pappalardo was changing the grids polarity behind the scenes, making it impossible for the clips to stick. She took testers blood pressure before and after to test their level of frustration and found that people in her own age group were the most easily peeved by the task.

Im fascinated by sociology and the behavioral element, Pappalardo said. I found it interesting to create a hypothesis about it and research it.

Students tend to pick topics based on existing areas of interest. Thats what Kacey Acosta did. She took a class on food chemistry through Tech Trek, a math and science summer camp for middle school girls, and found the subject fascinating. Her science project asked classmates what they considered to be a serving of Goldfish crackers.

I always thought (food chemistry) was cool, and I thought it would be interesting to do something involving food to test obesity, Acosta said.

Though the science fair poster board tradition may seem a little old-fashioned to some, science teacher Lucinda Hitchner says it has its place in the modern education system. Like school districts across the country, Cabrillo is continuing its transition to Common Core standards, with next-generation science standards to follow. Hitchner says that the skills students learn by developing a science project fall in line with these new standards.

The science fair project works well with those standards because it involves a deeper understanding of the scientific and inquiry method, Hitchner said. We also ask students to do a lot of writing, and in the world today its really valuable to think up a question and research it over a longer period of time.

Today, judges will interview the top students about their projects before deciding on the winners in each category. There will be an open house at 7 tonight in the Cunha gym, where the awards will be announced.

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Eighth-graders get creative at science fair