Approximately 121 students and teachers representing 11 schools attended the annual fall meeting of the Indiana Junior Academy of Science held at Indiana University Bloomington on November 5, 2007. 

The day started with an Opening Ceremony where Mr. John Greco, an undergraduate student in the IU Science, Technology, and Research Scholars Program gave a research talk on the “The Tower of London: an fMRI study of the effect of problem structure”.

Astronomy was the focus of our keynote speaker, Dr. Constantine Deliyannis who addressed the students just after lunch.

The following seven activities comprise the major portion of the Junior Academy meeting:

1.  The Problem Solving Exam
This exam provides students with a fun and meaningful exercise in scientific knowledge and problem-solving skills.  Two students from each school who are selected by their sponsoring teacher take the exam.  Plaques are awarded to the top two individual winners and certificates are given to the students who placed 3rd & 4th.

This year’s winners were:

Individual Students

1st Place – Nicholas Buesking, Northwestern High School
2nd Place – Briana Reprogle, Indiana Academy of Science
3rd Place  – Sujon Phookan, Indiana Academy of Science
4th Place  – Thomas Weiss, Noblesville High School
5th Place – Janelle Thixton, Eastern High School
6th Place – Dustin Stanton, Seymour High School

Top Schools – From each school, their two students’ scores are combined and the top school is recognized.

1st Place – Indiana Academy of Science
2nd Place – Noblesville High School
3rd Place – Northwestern High School

Each competitor gives a five minute presentation on the topic without the use of visual aids. The students are judged by a panel of peers, and the finalists are then judged by a panel of undergraduate students.  A plaque is awarded to the top two students, all finalists receive a certificate.

This year’s finalists were:

Esther Volmer, Christian Academy of Indiana
Rachel Dalton, Eastern High School
Nina Kovalenko, Noblesville High School
Blane Lawyer, North Daviess High School
Emily Schubert, Northwestern High School

This year’s winner was:

Emily Schubert, Northwestern High School

Winners were:

1st Place – Kyla Garrett & Meelyn Pandit, Noblesville High School
2nd Place – Chris Bassett & Mike Doyle, East Noble High School
3rd Place – Todd Grigsby & Chris Ochynski, East Central high School
4th Place – Nathan LeBlanc & Patrick In, Indiana Academy of Science
5th Place – Nick Heshelman & Rob Wilson, North Daviess High School

4.  The Research Paper Competition
This competition allows students who have carried out an original scientific investigation the opportunity to present their work publicly.  Students who wish to compete in this event submit an abstract of their work to the IJAS Director in early October.  The abstracts are reviewed by a panel of impartial judges, and thirteen student finalists are selected.  At the IJAS meeting, these students give a 10-minute poster presentation to a panel of judges who evaluate them on originality, research procedures, and presentation skill.  The second and third place winners receive a plaque.  The first place winner receives a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship from the Hoosier Association of Science Teachers to attend any Indiana College or University.

This year’s winners were:

1st place
2nd place	Janelle Thixton, Eastern High School
3rd place	Stacey Vosters, North Daviess High School
4th place	Aaron Martinson, Northwestern High School
5th place	Jessica Jackson, Eastern High School
6th place	Kyla Garrett, Noblesville High School
7th place	Olivia Graber, North Daviess High School
8th place	Matthew Huffman, Heritage Christian School
9th place	Aaron Miller, Northwestern High School
10th place	Emily Lohr, Marian High School
11th place	Hannah Scudder, North Daviess High School
12th place	Matthew Riesbeck, Marian High School

5.  The Outstanding Junior Scientist Competition
This event recognizes those students who are exemplary in overall scholarship as well as scientific ability and achievement.  Each school may nominate two students for this competition.  The top ten nominees are then selected to compete at the IJAS meeting, where they are interviewed by a panel of judges.  The Outstanding Junior Scientist is selected based upon his/her academic record, involvement in original research and extracurricular scientific activities, and the interview.  The second and third place winners receive plaques and the Most Outstanding Junior Scientist receives a plaque and a $1,000 scholarship from the Indiana Academy of Science to attend any Indiana College or University.

This year’s winners were:

1st place	157.02 pts	Stacy Vosters, North Daviess High School
2nd place	154.57 pts	Jessica Jackson, Eastern High School
3rd place	147.73 pts	Nyssa Boyd, Eastern High School
4th place	127.52 pts	Hannah Scudder, North Daviess High School
5th place	112.95 pts	CJ Hansen, Northwestern High School
6th place	108.77 pts	Lauren Hodge, Marian High School
7th place	108.27 pts	Nina Kovalenko, Noblesville High School
8th place	106.15 pts	Emily Blanche, Marian High School
9th place	103.70 pts	Aaron Martinson, Northwestern High School
10th place	98.82 pts	Meelyn Pandit, Noblesville High School

6.  The Outstanding School Award
The Outstanding School Award is given to the school with the most participation points.  To calculate this score, credit is given for every abstract submitted, more credit for those abstracts accepted for the Research and for Outstanding Junior Scientist competitions, and finally for rank scores for the top presentations.  Each school received credit for entering students in the Issues Competition, for having a judge at the Issues presentations, and for entering students in the Problem Solving Exam.  More credit was given to the winners.

The top three schools and the teachers representing them today are:

1st place	42 pts	Eastern High School
2nd place	37 pts	Northwestern High School
3rd place	33 pts	North Daviess High School

7. Educational Tours
Educational tours of the Psychological and Brain Sciences,  Chemistry,  Lilly Library, and Kirkwood Observatory were given in the morning to give all students attending an opportunity to get an up-close and personal look at some of the great research opportunities the IU Bloomington campus has to offer.