It’s the 25th year for the New Haven Science Fair!
Students from 4 to 18 are taking on serious topics, like Snigtha Mohanaraj, a 6th grader who studied her own genetics.
“If there’s only one dominant allele for a gene, the trait will be shown physically,” she explained as part of her presentation. Of course, not every project is so heavy on the science.
“So you know when you’re at the store and you see a bag of Doritos that you really want to buy, but you discover that the bag is only half empty?” asked Celentano 8th grader Liliana McIntosh. “So that has you wondering, ‘Did I just get what I paid for, or are the just trying to scam us?'”
It depends on the brand you buy, she and her partner found. All of these young minds are finding science can be fun as well as educational. At a time when Connecticut desperately needs workers skilled in science and technology, it’s important to get students on that track early, and with help beyond the classroom.
“We also had mentors who worked with 100 students as well,” Richard Therrien, the Science Supervisor who runs the fair. “All that is designed to get students to go into STEM area and just be a better citizen knowing about science.”
Related Content: Storm Team 8’s Sam Kantrow checks out the New Haven Science Fair
Few here know more about science than Wilbur Cross Senior Cris Rodriguez. He figured out a bunch of ways to power a boat.
“I wanted to use renewable sources from within the boat to have a smaller carbon footprint,” Rodriguez explained.
He is a dreamer, brought here as a kid from Ecuador without documentation. He has already been accepted to Wesleyan and plans to save the planet with science.
“I would like to do research. that’s my dream, to make a change in the world,” he said.
Rodriguez came in second in his category in last year’s science fair. He’s hoping for first place this year, and all those awards will be announced at a ceremony Wednesday night.
==
Free download: Access Connecticut breaking news, weather, stream newscasts live and more on-the-go with News 8 alerts directly to your phone.
