Inventors, Scientists, and Engineers of Tomorrow to Compete at Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair
RIVERSIDE – Testing whether artificial intelligence can compose an 8th grade language arts essay, identifying what kind of chocolate melts the fastest, and discovering the most efficient method to solve a Rubik’s cube, are a few of nearly 350 unique student projects set to be exhibited at the Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair on Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
A total of 450 students from 25 affiliate fairs representing public, charter, and private schools will present their findings in 347 projects spanning 19 subject matter categories from Biochemistry and Environmental Sciences to Physics and Astronomy.
Judging on Wednesday, March 1, is not open to the public. Admission is free for public viewing on Thursday, March 2, 2023, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bourns Technology Center (1200 Columbia Avenue, Riverside CA 92507). The awards ceremony, which is open to the public, will also take place at Bourns Technology Center on Friday, March 3 at 5 p.m., where gold, and silver (runner-up) medals will be presented. Community awards will also be announced during the awards ceremony.
Within each of the 19 subject matter categories, students will compete in the Grade 4/5 division, Junior division (grades 6-8), and Senior division (high school). Winners in the Junior and Senior division will advance to the California State Science and Engineering Fair to be held on April 11, 2023, at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California. Sweepstakes awards will be presented to one project in Grades 4/5 division, one project in the Junior division, and one project in the Senior division. Three Senior division students will advance to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering (ISEF) Fair to be held May 14-19, 2023, in Dallas, Texas.
Participating districts and charter/private schools include:
- Alvord USD
- Banning USD
- Beaumont USD
- ChammakilawishPechanga School
- Coachella Valley USD
- Corona-Norco USD
- Desert Center USD
- Desert Sands USD
- Hemet USD
- Jurupa USD
- Lake Elsinore USD
- Moreno Valley USD
- Nuview Union SD
- Palm Springs USD
- Palo Verde USD
- Rancho Christian School
- REACH Leadership
STEAM Academy - Riverside USD
- Romoland SD
- Sacred Heart School
- San Jacinto USD
- St. Catherine’s of Alexandria
- St. Edward’s School
- Temecula Preparatory School
- Val Verde USD
2023 Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair by the numbers:
- 451 – Total students participating
- 347 – Total projects
- 25 – Districts and/or charter/private schools participating
- 125 - Projects from students in Grade 4/5 division
- 127 - Projects from students in Junior division (Grades 6-8)
- 107 - Projects from students in Senior division (Grades 9-12)
- 19 - Categories of competition
- 41 - Entries in most popular category: Chemistry
Examples of entries from this year’s event include:
Project Title: ChatGPCheat
Student: Danni BrasherGrade: 8
School/District: Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School, Corona-Norco Unified School District
Project Description: Can artificial intelligence be used to successfully create an 8th grade language arts essay?
Project Title: Spiderman “Web” Shooter
Students: Dylan BurresonGrade: 5
School/District: James Carter Elementary School, Desert Sands Unified School District
Project Description: Three different “Spiderman-type” web shooters were created to see which type would shoot the furthest.
Project Title: Yummy Mummy
Student: Santiago Castillo, Alexis Cazares, Daniel HurtadoGrade: 6
School/District: Las Palmitas Elementary School, Coachella Valley Unified School District
Project Description: After a social studies lesson on mummification in ancient Egypt, the team decided to test what kind of popular sausages might be easiest to rehydrate.
Project Title: Project Fire-Fly: Creating A Fire Extinguishing Drone
Students: Jennavieve CovingtonGrade: 8
School/District: Vista Heights Middle School, Moreno Valley Unified School District
Project Description: Engineering project geared toward fighting fires in a safe and efficient manner, using drone technology to swarm wildfires.
Project Title: Finding the Correlation Between the Distribution of Neutral Hydrogen Reionization Timing and the Length of Long Absorbed Gaps in the Spectrum of the Bright Quasars
Student: Joseph ZenarosaGrade: 11
School/District: Martin Luther King High School, Riverside Unified School District
Project Description: Studying energetic photons, “dark gap” formation and distribution, and the timing of hydrogen reionization in star-forming galaxies
Project Title: How About Them Apples?
Student: Isabella Smith, Tatiana Garrido, Danica MosesGrade: 5
School/District: Starlight Elementary School, Beaumont Unified School District
Project Description: The group chose to test what can prevent browning of applies as each group member experienced the process of an apple browning and expressed that they lose their appetite once an apple starts bruising
Project Title: How To Save The Ocean From Humanity With Your Damaged Hair
Students: Jeremy Fors-Chang (Grade 11), Mojiha Joiner (Grade 10)
School/District: Hillcrest High School, Alvord Unified School District
Project Description: Group project that applied common hair treatments to hair and tested which would soak up the most oil as a way to clean up oil spills more efficiently.
Additional details on this year’s Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair are available on our Science and Engineering Fair page.