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Students attend state science, engineering fair

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Two students from Providence Christian School competed in the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair in Lakeland this month.
One student walked away with first place in the environmental science category.
Alex Clary and Dana Hankins attended the state competition, and Clary earned first place for his project on contaminated soil.
“He took soil that was contaminated with human waste and used worms and cleaned the soil up,” said Pam Johns, director of the school’s science fair.
Specifically, Clary was concerned about soil that lies between septic tanks and wells and whether drinking water becomes contaminated.
Hankins competed in the animal sciences category by showing the natural interactions between anoles. She documented the brown anole’s domination over the green anole habitat in Cape Coral.
“The Cuban brown anole is exotic and is squeezing out the habitat,” said Johns. “She put them together in a terrarium and the green one lost weight.”
Student winners are provided with category place awards, internship awards, scholarships and other special awards from businesses and science organizations.
According to Johns, close to 40,000 students from across the state participated in a science fair. From April 15-17, approximately 850 faced off at the state competition.
Statewide there are 37 regional science and engineering fairs from Florida’s 67 counties.
Providence Christian School has been participating in the regional and state science fair for the last decade, Johns said.
There is a junior and senior level, and the state competition is the highest where students from Providence Christian School can compete.
“There is no national level at this middle school level,” Johns said.