ROCHESTER — What happens when you cross a science fair with musical performances, art exhibits and a book fair?
It may not be the most natural question, but the answer could still be found at Rochester Memorial School on May 16th. The school was buzzing Thursday night as several “Steam-a-palooza” events filled the busy building.
A science fair in the cafeteria served as an eclectic display of student projects and experiments.
One project explored whether 10 family members and friends could discern the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi with a blind taste test.
By a small margin, the conclusion discovered by Hadley Owen was that most people tested could taste the difference between the two soft drinks.
When she tried it herself, Owen said she couldn’t tell the difference. But the scientific method prevails, and six of the ten participants correctly identified which was Coca-Cola and which was Pepsi during Owen’s project.
“A lot of work, but it was a lot of fun,” Owen said.
This wasn’t the only soda investigation brought to light during “Steam-a-palooza.”
Logan Medeiros tried different drinks and Mentos to see which carbonated beverage would have the biggest boost when mixed with the gum. Perhaps appropriately, regular Coca-Cola was the answer.
Medeiros said “blowing up the Sprite” was his favorite part of the project.
In another scientific project, Jonas Duggan, Andie Latham, and Archer Latham designed a lie detector test that involved a heart rate monitor, a system of “snap circuits” that detected sweat on fingers, and photo comparisons of facial expressions.
The group’s detector was able to correctly distinguish honesty 63% of the time.
Duggan said his favorite part of the project was “questioning people.” According to the project display, the honesty test questions for the subjects ranged from “Do you speak another language?” and “Have you ever had surgery?” to “Do you fart in public?”
In addition to the science fair, students performed music and various works of art were displayed throughout the school as part of “Steam-a-palooza.”
Outside a room filled with different math games, Ella Ohrenberger and Charlotte Parrott stood next to a 3D printer producing a goldfish piece they had drawn.
Using a website, they designed the format that was sent to the printer. The company created the orange by “laying out small layers” of plastic, Ohrenberger said.
Other science projects on display included an experiment by Tim Eilertsen to see which dish soap would best clean baseball pants, in which Dawn beat out OxiClean.
Eilertsen liked to “clean [the pants] and sliding into them,” he said.
At a nearby table, Cody Sorenson stood next to a prototype he built, a truck designed to excel in Antarctic conditions.
Sorenson said he based the prototype’s cabin on a “kei-truck,” a type of Japanese mini truck.
“I’m always thinking about them in class,” he said.
