Riley Avenue second-grader wins BNL science fair

Riley Avenue Elementary School student Mark Burns earned first place honors at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Elementary School Science Fair last month. 

Mark’s project, titled “Snow Problem,” was tops among all second grade entries.

The purpose of the project was to explore if there are more effective or environmentally friendly ways to melt snow and ice on our roadways instead of using salt and chemicals. He used beet juice, pickle brine and alfalfa meal as alternatives.

He observed that after three hours most of the ice had melted, according to the research he included with his entry.

“Out of the three safest things we used, pickle brine melted the most ice,” he wrote in his conclusion.

More than 500 projects from 118 schools were entered into the science fair. Mark was the only first place winner from a North Fork school district.

The following four local students received honorable mention in the contest:

Logan Levesque, kindergarten, Riley Avenue School

Ian Armstrong, kindergarten, Aquebogue Elementary School

Caroline D’Andrea, second grade, Miller Avenue Elementary School

Liam Levesque, fourth grade, Riley Avenue Elementary School