Student scientists win regional honors

Five students from Columbia Falls and Flathead high schools received awards — including two silver medals — at the annual Montana Tech Division I Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

Thirty-six high school juniors through seniors from six Montana schools presented at the Feb. 24 fair. More than 21 professional scientists interviewed students and provided the young researchers with feedback.

Columbia Falls High School received the first-place small school award. Silver medal winners for 11th grade went to Columbia Falls student Colin Norick for his project, “The Correlation of Lexile Level and Reading Comprehension while Multitasking” and Flathead student Annabel Conger for her project, “The Effects of Negative Campaigning on Young Voters.”

The Montana Tech fair is one of the five regional fairs in the state. Student projects that earned community-sponsored prizes are:

• Derik Butts, Columbia Falls

“The Effects of Temperature on Teenage Cognitive Performance”

Award: U.S. Air Force

• Gabrielle Merrell, Columbia Falls

“Impacts of El Niño on Columbia Falls, Montana, and correlations to large fire years in Glacier National Park”

Awards: NASA Earth System Science Award, Navy

• Colin Norick, Columbia Falls

“The Correlation of Lexile Level and Reading Comprehension while Multitasking”

Awards: American Psychological Association Award, U.S. Air Force

• Sophia Skwarchuk, Flathead

“Bisphenol A ( BPA) Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) assay and Nonylphenol (C15 H24 O) Aldehyde ( C11 H20 O2) assay for the Detection of Microplastics”

Awards: George Grant Trout Unlimited, American Meteorological Society Award, Big Hole River Foundation Award, Ricoh Sustainable Development Award, Navy