Erica David lives in Pinedale, Wyoming, where winter (1) bring temperatures of minus 37 degrees Celsius, howling winds, and a lot of snow. So (2) was natural that she chose to study snow for her school science fair project in sixth grade.
Now in high school, Erica is in her fifth year of snow experiments, and is well (3) her way to becoming a snow expert. She started with a basic question: Could snow fences (4) built to work better?
These important structures (5) used to keep snowdrifts from covering areas like roads or train tracks or to help build up snow where it can help with water shortages in spring when it melts. “Also, I wanted to protect my animals (6) the blowing snow,” says Erica.
Before she could test fence designs, Erica had to figure out (7) would act like real snow in her experiments. She tested flour, sugar, and detergents. She used a wind tunnel to see (8) one of them acted most like snow blown into a fence. She chose dishwasher powder.
Science fairs offer the opportunity (9) test hypotheses and meet other researchers. But perhaps the best reward is that her research is already being put to good use.