Barrow High Science students examine topics from the effects of oil upon seal fur to the diets of Arctic fish
Monday, March 21, 2011 at 4:30PM 
Even as the Barrow Lady Whalers were battling their way through the final game of the 3A tournament, another group of Barrow youth were engaged in a statewide competition held in Anchorage. These were bright students from Barrow High and Hopson Middle schools who had come down to compete in the Alaska Science & Engineering Fair, held at Begich Middle School.
Their competition started early in the morning and lasted until evening. I attended portains that took place both before and after the girls game.
This competition does not attract the same kind of crowds as does basketball nor does it bring its participants the same high degree of recognition.
But do not doubt the importance of it. It was good science, instigated by Iñupiat whaler hunters, that gave the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission the scientific data necessary to refute the inadequately researched information that the International Whaling Commission used in 1977 to try to put an end to the bowhead hunt.
Because the Iñupiat were able to teach scientists how to incorporate their traditional knowledge into their research and to improve their methods, the bowhead hunt is doing well today - as are the bowhead.
Now, with the Arctic taking the advance brunt of global warming, with potentially heavy oil exploration looming in both the Beaufort and Chukchi seas and ever more development on land that can impact the rivers and lakes, the importance of science to the Arctic and its people only grows.
This is Jadyn Edwardsen-Harrington with her project on caribou sinew, which she chose because "I am interested in things that were made by my ancestors."
In her project, she explained that sinew "has played an important part in the Iñupiaq's survival kit. It has been around for more than a thousands of years in Alaska's Arctic. Sinew is a type of thread ancient Eskimos used before store bought thread was invented."
She tested the strength of sinew compared to dental floss, and with different treatments using whale blubber and beeswax. "If I can discover the strength of sinew," she stated, "it may be easier for people to sew with. I think that whale blubber will cause the sinew to work stronger after it has been prepared."
The more homegrown scientists, the better.
Jadyn and some of the students here just may prove to be the ones the Arctic will need in the future.
The importance of the topic Ben Voss chose to study will be obvious to anyone familiar with Alaska's Arctic.
Ben posed the question, "will oil cause animal fur to lose its ability to insulate? As oil drilling steadily approaches into the Arctic Ocean it seems that the answer is becoming increasingly important in the face of an oil spill. This relevant question became very interesting to me as I heard more and more about the likelihood of Arctic oil drilling.
"I believe that if an animal's fur is contaminated by oil it will be less insulated than clean animal fur."
Ben conducted his test on strips of seal fur that he obtained from an Iñupiat friend who hunts. He conducted conducted various tests that included applying oil to the strips. Among other things, he found that the oil penetrated all the way through the fur and to the inside of the skin.
He also did a good deal of reading as he researched the impact of past oil spills, such as the Exxon Valdez and the BP Gulf of Mexico. Among his many findings:
"An oil spill has potential to cause great amounts of damage to animals and the environment and people involved in the clean up efforts. Oil when mixed with water creates a sticky black tar known as mousse, which sticks to any substance it comes in contact with. Most marine animals can't avoid an oil slick and when they become coated in mouse their fur begins to lose it's insulation properties and many animals perish due to hypothermia.
"Oil can also be absorbed through the animals skin, which slowly poisons it. In seals, oil destroys their fur and damages their insulating layer of blubber."
Stephanie Talbert's family has been eating fish since antiquity and still do, so Stephanie decided that she would like to know what the fish eat. She did some reading and research on the diets of white fish and least cisco and then hypothesized that the fish dined primarily upon snails, and that they did not eat eggs or rocks.
Starting with three white fish, she then conducted her own research. Using an ulu, she cut off their head and dissected them, opening up their stomachs and intestines to see what they had been eating. She then did the same with four least cisco, or Iqalusaaq.
What she found was that in both cases, her hypothesis had been wrong.
"The male whitefish ate eggs and rocks and the females only ate eggs. I think that my project was awesome," she stated in her conclusion," I learned a lot of new things about the two types of fish I observed. I learned that the whitefish either eats other fish eggs or their own. Also, the least cisco east eggs and has smaller stomachs than whitefish, because it is smaller. I also learned to gut fish. I didn't know how before the experiment.
"I think that it is important to know how to gut fish because my family members do and I can now carry on the past of my culture."
Okay... now it is getting late in the day and I need to get this post up and go on to other things. So I think I will let the above three serve as examples of the efforts the student put into their project and out of necessity and not to lessen any of the accomplishments of those that follow I will hurry along.
Joe Martelle studied insulation and examined the best, most economical ways to stay warm in the Arctic.
In Barrow and the villages of the Arctic Slope, this is vital knowledge, for certain.
In her Oil Dispersants project, Svetlana Terzioski studied the challenges of removing spilled oil from the oceans.
Billy Thompson looked into wind generated energy in his windmill project.
In "Food Preservatives," Alaina Bankston studied bacterial growth.
Elmer Thompson took a look at "Electromagnestism."
Inspired by television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Victoria Codamon studied forensic crime investigation in her project, "Who did it: DNA CSI."
Chan Chroonsophonsak did an examination of "Igloo vs. Snowpit."
During the many hours that the students spent with their exhibits, a variety of judges wandered by. The judges would often stop, study their projects and then grill them with questions - sometimes tough ones.
Alaina Bankston answers tough questions posed by judge Tom Hennessy.
For her work dissecting and learning about the eating habits of whitefish and least Cisco, Stephanie Talbert received the Alaska Fly Fishers Annual Award of Merit. The award is given to "students whose projects best contribute to our knowledge of fish and their habitats. We feel that your entry was clearly deserving of this award."
The award included a $100 savings bond.
Other special recognition awards going to Barrow High students included:
Billy Thompson: a backpack from the US Air Force.
Svetlana Terzioski: U.S. Metric Association "Best Use of the International System of Units."
Chan Chroonsophonsak: Alaska Professional Communicators Honorable Mention for Best Abstract.
Jadyn Edwardsen-Harrington: U.S. Army ($50), Marine Mammals of Alaska Book and COSAA Notebook.
Elmer Thompson: U.S. Army ($50).
Ben Voss: U.S. Army ($50).
Ben Voss: AK Science Teachers Association (Flash Drive).
It is not yet known if any of the Barrow students placed first, second, or third in their categories, as they had to board their plane back to Barrow before the ribbons were given out.
;)
Congratulations must also go to science teacher Emily Rosenberry, who is also Iñupiat. It was she who taught and prepared the students. She also received help from her husband, Mark, at right. Both served as Chaperones.
I originally intended to also include the Hopson Middle School science fair participants in this post, but I am missing some vital information that I must have first. Once I get it, I will post the Middle School participants. Anyone who wants can take a preview peek at their pictures as they are included in the slide show linked below:
Reader Comments (5)
great reporting of the science fair, bill! i remember driving my dtr sarah, the one who'll give me her kidney, to ursinus college, here in PA, where she p'pated in the science fair. my most vivid memory is of a swim team i saw thru a glass window and the smell of chlorine.
I am remembering my science project 12years back!!!! Great Blog!
now i prefer this competition to the basketball game....great reporting Bill, i think it is wonderful when kids get involved in science.
I very much enjoyed this post.
Really appreciate the coverage as students work so hard on their projects and its wonderful to have them recognized for all their efforts. Thank you Bill for supporting educational efforts of students as well.