For the third year in a row, The Charlottesville Astronomical Society (CAS) participated in judging science projects at the 23nd annual Piedmont Regional Science Fair, held at the Omni Hotel, Charlottesville, on March 15, 2004. Over 260 students from 30 different schools competed in over 30 different categories, ranging from Nelson and Fluvanna counties in the south to King George and Rappahannock to the north. The goal of the Science Fair is to increase interest and develop greater skills in science students within the Virginia Piedmont region.

In an effort to increase interest on space, dark skies, and science projects related to some aspect of astronomy, CAS awarded a handsome plaque and $50 prize to both a Junior and Senior Division winner.

CAS judges included CAS president, Ken Harker, John Turchi, and Larry Eicher for judging the astronomy awards. In addition, Bill Phillips volunteered to do all day team judging for the Chemistry awards. Congratulations to these volunteers who helped make the Piedmont Regional Science Fair a resounding success.

Winner of the CAS 2004 Senior Division was Heather St. Aubin from Massaponax High School. Her project focused on “Blue Sky, Red Sunset”, a study of why the sky is blue. Heather cleverly simulated particulate matter in the atmosphere with a solution of milk in water. Shining a flashlight into one end of the tank, she observed the color and measured the angle of displacement of the light coming out of the top and far end of the tank. She concluded that blue light was being scattered by the various particles within the milk, but that the red light was allowed to pass through to the other end. She drove her point home with a diagram of the earth and its atmosphere, showing how the sunlight must pass through more atmosphere to reach us at sunset and sunrise.

Winner of the CAS 2004 Junior Division was Jackie Hynson from King George Middle School for her study on “How Size Effects Solar Furnace Output?” Jackie's project involved a great deal of thoughtfullness and independent research. She built 4 panels of sixteen small mirrors which could be independently adjusted to focus sunlight onto a small spot on a box. She measured the time it takes to raise the temperature of the box from 40 to 120 degrees Farenheit. She correctly hypothesized that the time it takes to heat the system should not be linearly proportional to the number of mirrors used. In her words, “You should not be able to use so many mirrors that you could heat the system in negative six seconds!” When her chart of results showed a straight line, inconsistent with her hypothesis, she went back to the drawing board and did further analysis. She showed hard work and keen mathematical and analytical skills for which she clearly merited the award received.

It is our intent that by participating in this and future Piedmont Science Fairs, students and their science teachers will take a greater notice of space and astronomy topics when considering subjects for a future Fair presentation. We hope our participation in the Regional Science Fair will be that catalyst to encourage more science students in our region to investigate topics of space and astronomy and hopefully discover a life’s career in this exciting subject.