Does the color of something impact how it tastes? This is the basis for Hines Creek Composite School (HCC) grade seven students, Darcie Fortier and Carissa Belhomme’s science fair experiment that earned them a bronze medal at the Canada-wide virtual Science Fair held last month.

The bronze winning project submission “Sense Assumption” saw the HCC students test 15 people amongst a wide variety of ages to see if the color of something impacted the taste. Cassie and Darcie asked their experiment volunteers to taste three different versions of apple juice in which the only thing that set them apart was the color. In their project video submission, the students commented that the findings of the experiment would be helpful for the restaurant and marketing industry.

Darcie and Carissa first competed in the HCC school science fair and earned gold, then moved on to the regional virtual science fair and earned another gold medal before competing in the Canada-wide Science Fair.

“This was our first time ever competing in a science fair” says Darcie. “It feels very rewarding and we enjoy science a lot more. We are thankful for Mr. McEwen, Mr. Pittman and our parents who kept encouraging us.”

Carissa says participating in the science fairs was a lot of hard work that helped to build confidence. “We had such a simple idea that turned into a complex project” says Carissa. “It wasn’t always easy and was a lot of work but we kept going and built confidence as we moved through the competitions.”

TA Norris Middle School’s Elizabeth Warkentin, grade seven student also advanced from regional competitions after earning a silver medal to the national level and competed in the Canada-wide virtual Science Fair with her project “The Cheaper Prothstetic” which was inspired by her uncle who lost his arm. Elizabeth built a working digital prototype of a hand through 3D printing where different segments can move up and down and be locked in place with a pin, allowing the prothstetic to grow with a person. Elizabeth commented “I believe 3D printing and making prothstetics able to grow with a person will decrease the cost immensely.” In Elizabeth’s project video submission she says that “My dream is that kids all over the world will have access to prothstetics.”

The Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF) is the country’s largest annual youth science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) event, bringing together top young scientists and their projects, selected by our national network of over 100 regional STEM fairs in every province and territory.  

View the student’s science fair submissions at the links below:
Sense Assumption
The Cheaper Prothstetic