John Cooper School students compete at Houston science fair; one qualifies for state fair

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- February was a busy month for five Middle School science students from The John Cooper School.

At the Entergy Jr. High Science Fair held in Conroe on February 2, the team of Brian Mekelburg and Alex Everson took first place for “Under-Water Reconnaissance Rover” and Vishnu Swaminathan took first place in physics for his project, “Acoustic Synchronization.” Fellow Cooper students Amber Navarra placed fourth in the chemistry category and Abby Mendenhall placed fifth in the environmental category.

All five students went on to compete at the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston on February 23-24.

At the Houston fair, Navarra was awarded third place in chemistry, qualifying her to compete at the 2018 Texas Science and Engineering Fair in San Antonio, March 23-24. Her project, entitled “Get the Lead Out,” assessed the effectiveness of using sawdust, rice husks, maize cobs and coffee grounds to remove lead from water.

Mendenhall’s project, “Reflecting the Heat Island,” won a special award from Houston Intellectual Property law, and addressed the problem in big cities called “heat islands,” or cities with much higher temperatures than the surrounding area. Her research looked for the most cost efficient and temperature lowering paint to lower air conditioning costs and limit carbon dioxide output.

“These four students completed their projects as an optional activity while keeping up with all their other academics and extracurricular activities,” said science teacher Stef Groves. “We are very proud of the extra effort and perseverance demonstrated by these four students.”

For more information about The John Cooper School, visit www.johncooper.org.