UPLAND – Upland High School celebrated student innovation during its annual Science Fair on Dec. 11, where nearly 100 students presented 67 imaginative, research-driven projects. Entries spanned seven scientific categories, giving students the opportunity to showcase their creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills to judges, staff, and peers.

The Science Fair concluded with an evening Open House, where families viewed standout projects and joined the celebration of student achievement during an awards ceremony. In addition, UHS hosted a Districtwide Computer Science Family Night that offered hands-on activities, student demonstrations, and a Careers in Computer Science panel.

“The Science Fair gives students a meaningful opportunity to dive deeply into topics that inspire them,” UHS Science Department Chair Chris Morgan said. “When students present their work, they develop essential skills such as planning, communication, and the ability to explain complex ideas in a clear and confident way.”

Projects were evaluated by a panel of judges that included local rotary members, university professors, and parents of former UHS students with science expertise. Entries were scored using a comprehensive rubric that considered clarity of presentation, depth of student understanding, originality, and the ability to articulate the project’s purpose and findings.

Awards were presented for first, second, and third place in each of the seven categories: behavioral science, biology, botany and zoology, chemistry, health and medicine, physical and earth science, and physics and engineering. Several entries also received honorable mentions. Additional awards were presented for Inquiry and Inspiration as well as Excellence and Creativity. The first place entries in each category are eligible to advance to the San Bernardino County Science Fair later this school year.

Junior Elizabeth Ribak earned first place in the botany category for her project “From Vine to Value: Assessing How Brix Percentage Impacts the Price of Table Grapes.”

“Participating in the science fair was an extremely fun experience,” Ribak said. “I loved getting to meet all of the extremely smart judges and getting to share my research with them and my peers.”

The first place winners in each of the remaining categories were:

• Behavioral Science: Sergio Zapata and Mariella Nakhleh, “Determining a person’s true intellect: A better way to find how different people perform on an exam that measures their type of intelligence”
• Biology: Jeremy Lam and Cyrus Ortega, “Boil it Clean!”
• Chemistry and William Schlegel Award “Excellence and Creativity”: Damon Terry, “Influence of Hydrophobic Coatings on Piezoelectric Voltage Production”
• Health/Medicine: Evan Bravo and Sophia Reyes, “Globular Glucose: Modeling the Effects of Blood Glucose on Anticoagulants”
• Physical Science/Earth Science: Evelyn Tiong and Michael Randazzo, “Does Bigger Always Mean Better?”
• Physics/Engineering: Kayla Fash and Katelyn Sawin, “Short Story vs. Tall Tale: Who can increase faster?”
• Steve Levy Award “Inquiry and Inspiration”: Dylan Dela Cruz and Ryan McMillin, “The Float Serve is Predictable”

UHS offers rigorous science instruction, including several Advanced Placement courses as well as Career Technical Education pathways in subjects such as engineering and sports medicine.

“We are extremely proud of our students for the curiosity and dedication they demonstrated throughout this process,” UHS Principal Martin Gomez said. “Their hard work, along with the guidance and encouragement from our teachers and staff, truly reflects the spirit of learning at Upland High School.”

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

UUSD_ScienceFair1: Junior Elizabeth Ribak earned first place in the botany category of the UHS annual Science Fair, held Dec. 11.

UUSD_ScienceFair2: Freshmen Kayla Fash (left) and Katelyn Sawin (right) discuss their project with a judge at UHS’s annual Science Fair on Dec. 11. Their entry “Short Story vs. Tall Tale: Who can increase faster?” earned first place in the physics category.