Murray Middle School excels at state science fair

Students at Murray Middle School, 2200 Buford Ave., have had a long tradition of doing science fairs at school (since the 80s), taking the students to the region and state level. No other St. Paul public school was so strongly represented at this year's 77th annual Minnesota Academy of Science State Fair, Mar.30-Apr. 1 in Bloomington. Under teachers Nick Altringer and Tim Chase, the students garnered the following 2014 awards:

--Valerie Bares, was awarded a Middle School Paper Award (Grade 7) for "How do winter temperatures affect the germination and growth of the tar spot fungus?"

--Isak Stillwell-Jardin, was awarded a Middle School Paper Award (Grade 7) for "Does the Flavor of Mint Affect the Amount of Mouth Bacteria?"

--Grand Awards-Bronze, was awarded to Lily Xiong for "How does the amount of ammonium nitrate affect the temperature of water?"

--Gayathri Dileepan, received 3 awards for "Harmful Hamburgers": Seagate Emerging Scientist Award; Grand Awards-Silver; and a Broadcom Masters Award.

--Daniel Ellis, received 3 awards for "How does the temperature of a tuning fork affect its frequency?": Seagate Emerging Scientist Award; a Grand Awards-Gold; and a Broadcom Masters Award.

--Forrest Ahrens, also received 3 awards for "How Does the Strength of the Permanent Magnetic Field of an Electric Motor Affect the Rotations Per Minute (RPM) of the Motors Armature?": Seagate Emerging Scientist Award; Grand Awards-Gold; and a Broadcom Masters Award.