Jeffrey Fan of Plainsboro is one of the 12 winners of American Museum of Natural History’s ninth annual Young Naturalist Awards, a national essay contest for students in grades 7 to 12, with his work, “Investigation of Water and Soil Quality Upstream and Downstream in a Pond Environment.”
Fan, 15, a sophomore at Lawrenceville School, was a student at High School South for his freshman year. Curious about why one section of the pond near Walker-Gordon farm seemed more polluted than the other section, Fan decided to investigate if rainfall and water flow affected the water quality of the pond.
An excerpt from his essay follows:
“The downstream region seems more idyllic: plants with blooming flowers are more prevalent, and the entire area has an untarnished feel to it. Seeing some distinct differences between two areas in relatively close proximity, I began to wonder about how the flow of water and rainfall impacted the water quality of the pond. I hypothesized that the downstream area of the pond would be a more suitable environment for sustaining plant and animal growth than the upstream region, since the water seemed to go through a gradual purification as it flowed downstream. Also, vital minerals and nutrients would more likely accumulate downstream, due to the direction of the water’s flow.”
For information about the program and to read the winning essays, visit the Young Naturalist Awards Web site at www.education.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards.
