The South Carolina Independent School Association hosted the 2017-2018 SCISA State Science Fair April 10 at the Sumter County Civic Center in Sumter.
Each independent school was allowed to enter up to seven group or individual projects. Laurence Manning Academy came home with five awards.
Third-grade student Howard Moore won third place in the Elementary Invention/Engineering division with his Bristlebots invention. Moore built robots using toothbrush heads, which raced along a track. His experiment tested the effects of the bristles’ vibrations on the ground as it pertained to the speed of the bristlebots.
Ninth-grade student James Kaiser won first place in the Environmental Science – Senior division with his Trash to Treasure experiment. Kaiser tested the energy output of recyclable biofuels such as peanut oil or canola oil as they compared to fossil fuels.
Ninth-grade student Ryan Strickland won second place in the Environmental Science – Senior division with his Lightning Wood experiment. Strickland tested the conductivity of several solutions as electricity traveled across a piece of wood. As the current passed through differing speeds across the wood’s surface, fractal patterns were etched onto the wood’s surface.
Seventh-grade student Thomas Stoia won second place in the Junior Computer/Math Science division with his Hitbox Mania experiment. Stoia tested the effects of a hitbox, an invisible shape used to collect collision data, on the number of kills and player survival time in the video game Minecraft.
Tenth-grade student Trey Sharpe won first place in the Senior Computer/Math Science division with his Wayout Wi-Fi experiment. Sharpe tested the throughput and speed of wi-fi signals from multiple wi-fi routers as they passed through obstacles such as brick walls, wooden doors, glass, aluminum foil and bubble wrap.
