From left: Chapter members Bob Peterson, education committee co-chair, Detroit Chapter; Lance Heilbrun, chapter representative, Detroit Chapter; Anamaria Kazanis, president and chapter representative; Ann Arbor Chapter; George Divine, past president, Detroit Chapter; Kathy Peterson, education committee co-chair, Detroit Chapter; Karry Roberts, secretary, Detroit Chapter; John Gillespie, Ann Arbor Chapter; Huiyong (Thomas) Zheng, Ann Arbor Chapter; Rob Kushler, treasurer, Detroit Chapter

Continuing a two-decades–long tradition as a joint special awards team at the Southeast Michigan Science Fair, nine members of the Detroit and Ann Arbor ASA chapters judged projects on March 9. The team gave out three levels of special awards for projects exhibiting varying levels of use of statistics: certificates of recognition, certificates of merit, and awards of excellence.

Initially, judges individually reviewed the 203 middle-school projects and the 176 high-school projects on display at the fair and gave out recognition and merit certificates. From these reviews, a select few projects were nominated by individual judges for further consideration by the entire panel. By consensus decisions about the nominated projects, the awards team chose which would be given the awards of excellence. This year, four projects received awards of excellence, each with a certificate and a statistical book.

At the high-school level, excellence awards went to a Hillsdale Academy student for “The Effects of the Hormone Mimics Zeranol and Bisphenol A on the Rate of Flatworm Regeneration” and an H & M Skyline student for a project on lung capacity.

Excellence awards at the middle-school level went to a student from St. Francis of Assisi for “How Does Changing the Launch Angle and the Pull-Back Angle on a Ping Pong Catapult Affect How Far the Ping Pong Ball Travels?” and a South Arbor Charter student for “Strong Cookies.”

The team also gave out 65 certificates of recognition and four certificates of merit for use of statistics among the 379 projects on display.