Shirley, NY - May 15, 2014 - Brian Benson, a student in Donna Haakonson and Valari Wiemer’s fourth-grade class at William Floyd Elementary School, received an “Honorable Mention” award at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Elementary School Science Fair held earlier this month. His project, “Now You See It, Now You Don’t!” focused on measuring peripheral vision and determining which object, among those of various colors and shapes, was easiest to see.
For his project, Brian constructed a vision protractor, measured out angles and created test objects of various color and size. He then asked his test subjects to focus on a pushpin in the center of the protractor and measured when the object became visible in their peripheral vision. His hypothesis that the brightest object regardless of size would be the first to be seen proved correct. Brian’s project was one of only seven “Honorable Mention” awards chosen for his grade level and among only 45 from kindergarten through fifth grade from throughout all of Suffolk County.
The Elementary School Science Fair, sponsored by BNL and supported by Brookhaven Science Associates (the company that manages the Laboratory for the Department of Energy), is coordinated by BNL’s Office of Educational Programs with support from the Lab’s scientists, engineers and technical staff, as well as volunteers from the Long Island Matrix of Science and Technology and local elementary school teachers. More than 500 students from 120 Suffolk County schools entered a project into the fair.
Brian Benson, a fourth-grade student at William Floyd Elementary School, received an “Honorable Mention” award at the annual Brookhaven National Laboratory Elementary School Science Fair.