Schools

Whiz Kid: Philip Tubiolo Awarded Top Prize at BNL, Middle School Science Fairs

Sixth-grader garners first place in middle school fair, then earns a win at BNL's fair for his project, entitled, Oil vs. Photosynthesis.

Philip Tubiolo, a sixth-grade student at learned about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and designed an experiment to decipher the rate of oxygen production in plants living underneath an oil slick: Would they provide the same amount of oxygen as those plants living in clean water?

Tubiolo knew the horrible consequences the spill had on the animals of the Gulf, but wondered how it affected the region’s plant life. He also knew that plants largely supply the oxygen in water through the process of photosynthesis, noting that plants are placed in home aquariums for that very purpose. 

The science research student crafted an experiment to find the answer and entered it into the middle school science research fair. His project, entitled “Oil vs. Photosynthesis,” won first place at the fair, and on May 7 was also awarded top prize at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Science Fair.

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The Elementary School Science Fair at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory drew 550 entries from 118 Suffolk County schools. The Laboratory’s Office of Educational Programs coordinated the fair, which was held on May 7 and attended by hundreds of students, parents, and teachers. Brookhaven Lab scientists and local elementary school teachers judged the projects, according to the BNL website.

Sixth-grade science research program teacher Kathy Brand said Tubiolo is a hard worker who is eager to learn.

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“His curiosity, combined with his work ethic and attention to detail, all of those combined to make a very good project,” Brand said.

In the beginning stages of his experiment, Tubiolo ran into some obstacles that he was determined to overcome.

At first, he couldn’t get the plant to produce oxygen, but, with Brand’s guidance, the dedicated student figured out the issue and went on to complete an award-winning project.

“He doesn’t let barriers stop him, he comes up against them and tries to find a way to get over them,” Brand said.

Suffolk County Legislator Bill Lindsay will honor Tubiolo at a meeting of the Legislature in June. 

This is the second win in a row for James Wilson Young science research students. Last year, Bridget Fabiani won the Brookhaven Lab Fair for her project on the correlation between recreational reading and SAT scores. While the Brookhaven Lab Fair does not go beyond the sixth grade, the Middle School Science Olympiad team placed fourth at the Regional competition this year, with many of the research class students as team members. 


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