Archbold junior Elizabeth Theobald told Rotarians about the science fair project that earned her a trip to the International Science and Engineering Fair last month in Dallas where some 1,500 high school students from more than 60 countries competed.
In short, Elizabeth collected water samples from all Fulton County schools to measure how much of the chemical trihalomenthane was in the samples. At very high levels, the chemical, which is formed when water is treated with chlorine, has been associated with increased risks of certain cancers in humans. The good news: None of the water that she tested had concerning levels of the chemical. Pictured with Elizabeth are Rotarian Mark Hagans (left), who arranged the program, and Jim Short, director of the Northwest Ohio Science and Engineering Fair which is a qualifying fair for the international science fair.
Completing research projects for science fairs and competing at a high level is a family tradition for Archbold High School junior Elizabeth Theobald. In his introduction of the program that he arranged for Archbold Rotary, Mark Hagans explained that both Elizabeth’s mother and aunt had completed high school science projects that earned them multiple trips to the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and her cousin has competed at the ISEF twice.
Elizabeth earned the right to complete at the 2023 ISEF last month in Dallas by competing in and being judged one of two finalists at this year’s Northwest Ohio Science and Engineering Fair that was held at Northwest State Community College. In addition to the ISEF, her environmental science project has earned her a trip to the BioGenius competition this summer in Rochester, New York, and immediately after that she will represent Ohio in a national water project competition for high school students that will be held in Denver.
The best high school project from the Denver competition will advance to an international competition — the Stockholm Junior Water Prize.
Elizabeth, who is the only member of the Archbold swim team, told Rotarians that since she spends so much time in the water every week practicing for her swimming events she decided to do a science project that somehow involved water research.
So, she settled on a research project that measured the level of chemicals known as trihalomenthanes (THM) that were in the drinking water of the Fulton County schools as well as Napoleon. THMs are formed when domestic use water is treated with chlorine. At very high levels over a number of years, THMs increase the risk of certain types of cancer in humans.
She tested three variables to see what effect, if any, each might have on THM levels. Those variables were the length of time water spent in the pipes at the schools, whether the pipes were copper or PEX, and the water temperature.
Without the assistance of staff at the Archbold water treatment plant Elizabeth said her research wouldn’t have been possible as they allowed her to use equipment at the plant to measure THM levels in the water samples that she had collected.
Her research found that regardless of the variables, all of the water samples from the schools were well within the safe range. She also explained that the use of activated carbon systems in water treatment helps keep THM levels low as less chlorine is needed to treat the water.
Jim Short, the longtime director of the Northwest Ohio Science and Engineering Fair and retired high school science teacher, talked about the value of science fairs and students learning how to use the scientific method.
He explained completing a project for science fairs requires more than understanding science. It incorporates planning, research, math, written and oral communication skills in writing the scientific paper and then explaining the results to judges, and it promotes self-confidence. Further, those who do well can and have earned college scholarships from participating in science fairs.
He also acknowledged Archbold Rotary as a sponsor of the Northwest Ohio Science and Engineering Fair.
