6th Grade Prize Science Projects

Forget scrubbing the bathroom or the kitchen sink -- your cellphone is in desperate need of cleaning before you pick up some serious germs. "Some of them can be quite harmful," budding scientist Jana Elazarwarned Friday.

"Mostly skin infections," agreed research partner Jenna Adelman.

The two students at the Gray Academy of Jewish Education were doing 6th grade science projects aimed at investigating whether people clean their home phones and cellphones, a project displayed with ominous conclusions at the Manitoba Schools Science Symposium at the University of Winnipeg's Duckworth Centre.

"Even clean freaks, they don't clean their phones," said Jana.

In their study of 100 people, only 10 per cent cleaned their home phones and cellphones, while 54 per cent did not clean either phone. One in four cleaned only the home phone periodically, while 11 per cent disinfected only the cellphone.

"Have you ever cleaned up your cellphone before?" Jana challenged a visitor. The students used swabs on phones, then put the samples in petri dishes, and watched the bugs flourish from the phones that don't get cleaned.

Added Jenna: "I carry a pack of wipes, so I can clean off any cellphone."

Now that you're turned off cellphones, how about getting grossed out by the bugs in water bottles that don't get washed out between uses? Dylan Galay and Nik Barkman, Grade 4 students at Gillis School near Beausejour, had six people each drink out of just one water bottle apiece for two weeks. Only one of the test subjects, their teacher, was allowed to clean her bottle.

They used swabs around the inside rims of the water bottles two weeks later, and put the samples in petri dishes. "There was some mould," said Nik. "It was pretty disgusting," Dylan concluded.

The annual provincial science fair runs today and Sunday at the Duckworth Centre.

MSSS president and retired principal John Jack said numbers are down this year, 425 projects compared to 540 last year and a record 706many years ago.

"The majority are from grades 4 to 6," Jack said. There are only 15 from grades 11 and 12. "This is mainly because some schools are making some choices, heritage fair one year, science fair one year," and some schools are sending fewer competitors, Jack said.

"Lots of schools this year did not have local science fairs," Jacksaid. "Those who are keen, continue on." Jack said the decline in numbers is not because of kids unable to compete with mentored projects -- the students who have access to professional labs, doctors and scientists for high-level, sophisticated projects.

"Mentored projects are important -- it increases the in-depth research and experimentation," said Jack.

Kelsey Henderson's grandfather owns two wind turbines in the St. Leon area, so she and fellow Grade 7 Lincoln Middle School environmentalist Shai Wood built a pair of miniature wind turbines. "We wanted to build a wind turbine that produces hydrogen. It's renewable energy and it's environmentally friendly," said Kelsey, explaining that the pair believe they showed in principle that a wind turbine should be able to produce hydrogen in addition to electricity.

Osama Jarkas and Anas Moustarzak did 6th grade science projects on stress - their own -- and enlisted the help of their teacher, even though they say he's the cause of their stress. Seems Grade 7 at Alhijra Islamic School a year ago was more easy-going, but the Grade 8 teacher, well, "He's hard and he's real strict," said Anas.