NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – Students of all ages, from all over New Haven, came to the Yale Commons to show off their science knowledge. The 22nd annual New Haven Science Fair is a long way from baking soda volcanoes and potato clocks. At this science fair, students kids are looking at saving the world.
“So carbon dioxide emissions are a very big problem these days because of the toxicity and polluting the atmosphere causing global warming and climate change,” explained high school freshman Prastik Mohanrha. He’s already talking about getting a patent for his process of making useful methanol by taking harmful carbon dioxide, mixing it with water and a catalyst.
“I put in electricity so that powers the reaction,” Mohanrha said. “After that, the methanol is produced and that can be extracted and used for whatever purposes you wish to – synthetics or fuels or anything.”
These future scientists seem to be working on making sure there is a future. Seventh graders Lanaya Foust and Ashley DeJesus teamed up for their eco-friendly project.
“So our project is about recycled paper and how strong recycled paper compared to new paper is,” Foust said.
“They’re talking about cleaning wastewater. They’re talking about pollution in our environment,” said New Haven Schools Science Supervisor Richard Therrien. “They really are projects where they want to change their world, and that’s one of the most exciting things about science.”
New Haven is an exciting place for science. These students can get mentors, internships, and maybe one day jobs from some of the high-tech businesses nearby, and thanks to the Elm City Promise, good students can go to college for free.
“Our science fair program is not just today, it also involves those mentorships and internships,” said Therrien. “We have a great partnership with Yale.”
The judging is today, the awards ceremony is Wednesday night. That is when they will find out who won the science fair, but with these young minds trying to solve the world’s problems, it’s kind of like we’re all winning.
