(Long Island, NY) Budding young scientists filled the auditorium of the Suffolk County Legislature on Wednesday to educate Legislators on their outstanding projects that won first place accolades at this year’s Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Science Fair. From kindergarteners to 6th graders, students examined, hypothesized, and tested theories relating to gravitational pull, velocity, speed, deceleration, and stoppage time. Legislator Bill Lindsay was fortunate enough to have two winning students from his district. Joseph Malossi, of Sayville, and Emily Denton, of Bayport, both received proclamations for their winning projects.
Joseph Malossi is a fourth grade student at Cherry Avenue Elementary School who crafted his project on centrifugal force after gaining inspiration on the Gravitron Ride at a local summer carnival. Joseph used bean plants to study the effect of centrifugal force by examining bean plants as they grew in soil.
Legislator Lindsay with this year’s Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Elementary School Science Fair Winners Joseph Malossi and Emily Denton. Photo Credit: Suffolk County.
As a result of the experiment he discovered that the roots were most affected as they spread from the center of the album to the edges. Though he originally hypothesized that the bean plants would be more affected by gravity, it was ultimately centrifugal force that had a greater impact. Joseph believes this experiment can have future implications relating to space missions and he is determined to continue study on this matter.
Sylvan Avenue Elementary School fifth grader, Emily Denton, designed her project on stop sign activity after noticing a young man running right through a stop in her neighborhood. Emily conducted a 2 month experiment where she monitored stop sign activity and gathered research from the New York State and Suffolk County Traffic Safety Reports, the DMV, the CDC and the SCPD.
Emily ultimately concluded that young men are more likely run through stop signs than older men or women of any age group and she further linked her findings to insurance rates. Emily plans on continuing her research in the future by expanding the study across state and country lines to help influence better driver education programs and licensing laws.
“Scientific proficiency is as important now as it has ever been, given the societal and economic importance of STEM programs,” said Legis. Lindsay. “It is beyond encouraging to see these young scientists gaining the skillset they need to further advance the fields of science, math, and technology. Congratulations to Emily and Joseph, I’m sure we will be hearing plenty more about your future achievements.”
Suffolk County Legislator Bill Lindsay is the Chairman of the Economic Development Committee, Chairman of the Parks & Recreation Committee, and Vice Chairman of the Government Operations, Personnel, Information Technology, and Housing Committee. Bill represents the 8th legislative district which consists of Bayport, Blue Point, Bohemia, Holbrook, Holtsville, Oakdale, Sayville, West Sayville parts of North Patchogue and Ronkonkoma.
