Students show love for science during Pepper Tree science fair

Next time 6-year-old Tehya Rivette feeds a horse, she will not give it a lemon.

"I'm going to feed them a carrot, green apple and red apple," said Tehya, a first-grader at Pepper Tree Elementary School in Upland.

Tehya tied for first place in her grade during the school's fourth annual science fair, "So much to love about science."

Her project, "Snacktime Horsey," explored what types of snacks horses like to eat.

"They definitely didn't like the lemon," Tehya said.

There were more than 170 students in this year's science fair. Sixth-grade students are required to participate and all other students are allowed to volunteer.

"I realized this was actually very, very fun and I also got extra credit on my science for school," said 10-year-old Alec Romero, a fifth-grade student.

Romero took his favorite hobby and turned it into a science project.

He attempted to determine which directions his "Beyblades" would spin.

Beyblades are spinning tops based on a Manga comic series.

"I wanted to know the certain patterns," Romero said. "It helps people learn what to do for good combinations and in what area to move to see if they'll do good in battles."

There were 73 judges that included college students majoring in science from Chaffey Community College and Harvey Mudd, several nurses, a dentist, engineers, college professors, members of the Society of Women Engineers as well as several organizers of Tech Trek, which is an organization promoting science education through summer camps for incoming eighth grade girls.

Projects were judged by three or four judges each and their scores were averaged to determine the winners.

The top three projects from sixth grade will advance to the Regional Science Fair for Riverside, Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino Counties.

The following projects won:

Kindergarten

2^nd Place - Halee Quinonez, "The Sweet Science of Cotton Candy"

1^st Place - Luke Van Noy, "I Wonder if Celery Can Change Colors"

First Grade

3^rd Place - David Martinez, "Popcorn"

2^nd Place - Magnus Norell, "Soaking Up the Sun"

1^st Place - a tie between Tehya Rivette, "Snacktime Horsey" and Trista Danhoff, "The Big Impact"

Second Grade

3^rd Place - Olivia Comstock, "What Do Plants Like to Drink?"

2^nd Place - Jillian Orwin, "Do I Have to Water the Plants?"

1^st Place - Victoriya Ruffin, "Dissolving Fabrics"

Third Grade

3^rd Place - Renee Soler, "Osmosis in Cells"

2^nd Place - Isabelle Esparza, "The Egg and its Osmosis"

1^st Place - Katelyn Hammond, "Good For Teeth"

Fourth Grade

3^rd Place - Josephine Moncayo, "What Materials Conduct Electricity to Power a Lightbulb?"

2^nd Place - Michael Cho, "The Role of Density in Floating"

1^st Place - Adeshola Hanciles, "How Acids Affect the Rate of Rusting"

Fifth Grade

3^rd Place - David Tran, "What Fruit Produces the Most Electricity?"

2^nd Place - Sarah Carichner, "Rain, Rain, Go Away"

1^st Place and 2^nd RIMS alternate - Gabby Esparza, "How Many Lemon Batteries Will it Take to Light Up an LED Lightbulb?"

Sixth Grade

5^th Place - Kyle Della Giustina, "The Effect of Gatorade-vs-Water on 6^th graders' Pulse"

4^th Place and 1^st RIMS alternate - Calle Brady & Laura Bicksler, "The Naked Egg"

3^rd Place and advancing to RIMS - Keren Santamaria, "What Makes it Move?"

2^nd Place and advancing to RIMS - Cody Liske, "Watch Me Mold"

1^st Place and advancing to RIMS - Sade Hanciles, "Candy Chromatography"