Regional Science Results

Regional Science Fair Results

The Hayfield Science Department is pleased to announce the results of the Regional Science Fair competition. This year, science fair was voluntary, but after review at the school level we were pleased to send on 10 teams to the regional science fair competition. All ten teams were recognized with either category placement or organizational awards at this year’s regional fair.

Second Place category awards were awarded to two Hayfield projects:

  • Nathan Grunkemeyer in the category of Chemistry for his project, “The Effect of pH on the Mass of Bioplastics Produced from Starch”
  • Fiona Dreesbach in the category of Earth and Environmental Systems for her project “The Effect of Lichen on a simulated Martian Environment’’. Fiona also received organizational awards from the MIT Club of DC, The Northern VA Astronomy Club, and the Society of Women Engineers.

Both Fiona and Nathan will advance on to compete in the Virginia State Science Fair Competition.

Third place category awards were awarded to two Hayfield Projects:

  • The team of Maya Degafe, Alicia June and Norah Nijbroek in the category of Behavioral and Social Sciences for their project “The Effect of the Full-Time FCPS Advanced Academics Program on the Relationship between Academic Performance and Self-concept of Participating Students”
  • Autumn Roverse in the category of Engineering Mechanics for her project, “The Effect of Temperature on Conductivity and Resistance”

Honorable Mention Category Awards were awarded to five Hayfield Project including:

  • The team of Easton Meadows, Olivia So and Samuel Ten in the category of Molecular Biology for their project, “The Effect of Light Intensity on Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates”
  • The team of Jalayah Chatman and Iyala Morales in the category of Chemistry for their project, “The Effects of Insulators on Ice”
  • The team of Rylee Abell, Sarah Cestare and Danielle Currier in the category of Behavioral and Social Sciences for their project “The Effect of How Students Receive Instruction on Their Performance on a Test”
  • Joed Otchere in the category of Biochemistry for his project, “The Effect of the Tye of Citrus Fruit on the Amount of Electrolytes”
  • The team of Nader Bashammakh, John Copeland and Justin Hagen in the category of Engineering Mechanics for their project, “The Effect of Beam Thickness on Bridge Efficiency.”

Andrew Ross also received an 1st place Organizational award from Dominion Energy and an Honorable mention from the Washington Statistical Society for his project, “Regional Differences in Environmental Radiation Levels.”

We are extremely proud of these amazing researchers for their dedication to science in a year with no access to school science labs, equipment or supplies. We celebrate their work and look forward to their success in the future.

For a complete list of winners this year you can visit

https://www.fcps.edu/sciencefair.