Glacier freshman headed to national science competition

Glacier High School freshman Luke Ritzdorf is on his way to Washington, D.C., with his science project in tow for a chance at $25,000.

Ritzdorf, of Bigfork, is one of 30 finalists in a national competition for middle school students called Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars).

In Washington, D.C., he will present his research project on water testing and compete in hands-on challenges. Ritzdorf is hopeful of meeting President Obama.

“That usually happens, but it’s not explicitly written in the schedule, but if all goes well,” Ritzdorf said.

Finalists were chosen through a selection process that began with 6,000 nominees and 2,434 applicants in grades sixth through eighth. Nominees qualified to enter the competition by placing among the top 10 percent among participants at science fairs affiliated with the nonprofit Society for Science and the Public.

Ritzdorf’s eighth-grade science project, “Using a Towable Conductivity-Mapping System to Locate Springs or Septic Leachate,” covers a topic of concern particularly in the Flathead — water quality. He won several awards for the project at the 2016 Montana Science Fair including first place for best eighth-grade physical science exhibit. His project also earned a Peterson Grand Award for overall best eighth-grade physical exhibit.

As a state winner, Ritzdorf was given an application to enter the Broadcom MASTERS competition.

It wasn’t his first time either. Ritzdorf has been a Broadcom MASTERS semifinalist before.

DESIGNING AND conducting an experiment, and gathering valid data takes time. Ritzdorf has been working up to this project for years, utilizing past science projects for components of a towable structure.

As a Kalispell Middle School seventh-grader, Ritzdorf studied design ideas for holding a conductivity sensor in water. Prior to that, he worked on designing a conductivity sensor. Ritzdorf knew there were potential uses for the project, such as measuring sewage leakage in area lakes.

On Sept. 22 in an engineering classroom at Glacier, Ritzdorf showed the “boat” he designed and refined. The design is simple, with a piece of plywood attached to PVC piping. Lifting the boat up by two cabinet door handles, he showed where propellers are attached.

The boat is a means to carry the brains of the operation — a computer the size of a mint tin and a sensor that looks similar to a thin LED flashlight. It’s programmed to pick up GPS signals and conductivity data every 10 feet.

“The computer is like the controller for everything, it sets everything up in the program and waits for a location,” Ritzdorf said.

The sensor is dropped through a hole in the plywood into the water.

“All that really does is sense how much electricity can go between the two electrodes,” Ritzdorf said. “Basically it’s just an indicator of how much stuff there is in the water. The more stuff there is the more electricity can go between the electrodes.”

This is where Ritzdorf’s inquiry into two different topics, spring water and septic leachate, comes in.

“Spring water, which is one of my topics, would have more minerals than lake water, so this was the higher conductivity area,” Ritzdord said, pointing to a map of McGilvray Lake, near Bigfork.

The lake is outlined by a gradient of colored points that represent the range of conductivity. Conductivity lowers farther from the spring, Ritzdorf notes.

Inferring whether the concentrated areas of higher conductivity are springs or septic leakage also depends on other factors.

“In this case there aren’t any houses near it to contaminate the lake with my other investigation topic — septic leakage,” Ritzdorf said.

After completing his project on McGilvray Lake Ritzdorf began researching Whitefish Lake where septic contamination has been confirmed by a Whitefish Lake Institute study.

“I’ve got more data maps from Lazy Bay in Whitefish Lake,” Ritzdorf said, noting the area potentially at risk of septic contamination, according to Whitefish Lake Institute research.

“This green spot right there,” Ritzdorf said, pointing to a concentration of data points, “could be septic leakage, especially since there was an older house right in here. It could have an older septic system that could be leaking into the lake.”

Ritzdorf estimated the portable project cost him just under $300 to build. The most challenging part was “definitely programming.”

Ritzdorf is currently enrolled in Glacier’s Project Lead The Way STEM Academy. He is the son of Tom and Lynn Ritzdorf.

For more information visit https://student.societyforscience.org/broadcom-masters.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.