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 FARMINGTON, New Mexico USA — The springtime New Mexico wind can be a brutal force.
But for 15-year-old Sean Abrahamson, it is an inspiration.
Tired of watching his model rockets be carried away by the wind, the Piedra Vista High School freshman decided to create a mathematical formula that would predict how high the rockets would sail into the air. "You need the equation for height, for velocity, for acceleration, and for acceleration you need engine thrust, mass, lift and air rest drag," he said. For a science fair project, he developed a formula that predicted the height a rocket would travel within a few percentage points. It won him a trip to the Intel International Science Fair next month, one of two local students who will attend. It's unusual for a freshman like Abrahamson to be chosen from among the hundreds of projects at the regional competition; upperclassmen tend to be more experienced and win more often. "My goal for international is just to have fun. There are a lot of good projects, and people from all over, like Japan," he said. "I won a lot at state, so I'm happy with that." Abrahamson and Kirtland High School senior Shandiin Copeland will represent the region at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta, Ga. They'll join more than 1,500 students from more than 40 countries for the fair, which runs from May 11 through 17, according to a press release. The finalists were chosen from millions of students around the country who also participated in local and regional science fairs. In San Juan County, there is a winner in each of the 15 categories, and the judges choose two winners to attend the international fair. This will be Copeland's fourth trip to the International Science Fair, and the third time she's competed. The first year she went as an observer. In 2006, she won third place in the Earth and Space Sciences Grand Competition, and last year she won a second place prize from the U.S. Air Force. This year, her project focuses on attributes of vegetation in Largo Canyon. With her findings about how long it takes for an area to re-vegetate, she attempted to draw conclusions about another canyon, Carrizo Canyon. Though the sample area proved too small to draw conclusions, she's hoping more data will allow her to apply the hypothesis. "With a better aerial photograph and vegetation, I'll go out and check my findings," she said. Farmington High School freshman Nicholas Smith and Abrahamson's friend Jacob Schirer from Piedra Vista also will attend the science fair as observers. Copyright © 2008, The Daily Times. |
