ISMS Student Named Finalist in National STEM Competition

Indian Springs Middle School seventh grader Brody Jaworski has been named a Finalist in the 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, a program in partnership with the Society for Science.

The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is the nation’s premier middle school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) competition, and received over 1,800 applications this year. 

Brody is one of 30 Finalists selected by a nationwide panel of scientists, engineers, and educators who will head to Washington D.C. October 25-30, to participate in Thermo Fisher JIC Finals Week. There, a panel of judges will evaluate their scientific research along with their communication, creativity and collaboration skills during team challenges. In addition to the opportunity to compete for over $100,000 in prizes, Brody will receive a $500 cash award, and Indian Springs MS will be granted $1,000 for campus STEM initiatives.

“Congratulations to the Top 30 Thermo Fisher JIC finalists,” said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of Society for Science and Executive Publisher of Science News. “Their innovative projects showcase the bright future of STEM. These young people remind us of the importance of nurturing scientific curiosity from an early age and investing in STEM education.”

Learn more about Brody and his project below:

Chemically Transforming Dead Leaves Into Adhesives

Project Background: Raking up the fallen leaves in his yard, Brody saw just how many bags of leaves went to the trash. “I saw in our neighborhood all the bags of dead leaves stacked up and saw it was a big waste,” he says. He wanted to see if it would be possible to turn the dead leaves into something more useful. Brody knew that leaves were full of cellulose, and that cellulose was made of long chains of glucose. Knowing glucose was sticky, Brody decided to see if he could turn dead leaves into a glue.

Tactics and Results: Brody collected dried oak leaves and also collected iron from soil with a magnet. After crushing the leaves, he mixed them with pineapple juice, hydrogen peroxide, and hydrogen peroxide with his collected iron or cellulase (an enzyme that breaks down cellulose). Then he waited for either an hour or a day. Brody took a drop of the final mixture and put it between two sheets of cardboard, let it dry, and then measured how much force it took to pull the two sheets apart – a measure of how well his glue worked. The strongest glue was the pineapple juice with leaves (the positive control), then cellulase, and then hydrogen peroxide. “The hydrogen peroxide with iron did not work as an adhesive as good as without iron because I think that the iron catalyst made the reaction too fast,” Brody says. He hopes that one day leaves could help make adhesive.

Other Interests: Brody likes to practice magic tricks and loves to read fantasy books “Magic tricks are kind of like fantasy to me because I read a lot about wizards,” he says. He loves STEM subjects and hopes to become a mechanical engineer. “I know it is not related to mechanical engineering, but I really want to do chemistry too,” he says.

Keller ISD is proud of you, Brody – best of luck at Finals Week!

For more information about Society for Science, or to view a full list of 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovator Challenge Finalists, click here.