Photo: Michael Oleksyn/Daily Herald (L to R) Ella Fendelet and Jade Bremner are off to Edmonton after placing first and second at the Prince Albert and Northeast Regional Science Fair at the Prince Albert Science Centre on Tuesday.
Prince Albert Daily Herald
Students from six local schools put their knowledge and creations on display at the 2025 Prince Albert and Northeast Regional Science Fair on Tuesday at the Prince Albert Science Centre in the Gateway Mall.
The Science Fair had 47 projects from 38 students at Carlton Comprehensive Public High School, Christopher Lake School, Red Wing School, Spruce Home School, Distance Learning Centre (DLC) and Shellbrook Elementary.
The two winners were Ella Fendelet and Jade Bremner. Fendelet is in Grade 8 at Christopher Lake School and Bremner is in Grade 7 at Red Wing. They will now compete with winners from other regions at the National Science Fair to be held in Edmonton from May 23 to 30.
Both Fendelet and Bremner were surprised to win.
“I thought it was pretty surprising. but I was quite exciting,” Fendelet said. “It was quite crazy, chaotic. Yeah, it was definitely overwhelming.”
Fendelet, who placed first, has qualified every year she was eligible. Bremner had never entered before this year. Both students said they are nervous about going to Edmonton.
Fendelet’s project is titled:’ Filters to Fibers: Can You Make a New Product Out of Cigarette Butts?’ She said it was based around the concept of recycling cigarette butts.
“I tested using a coffee grinder, a blender, and a Slap Chop to see what emulsifier or grinder turned it into a powder the best,” she explained. “The coffee grinder was the best because the blender was too aggressive of a material, so it was too fine of a powder.”
Fendelet said the Slap Chop created too large of pieces to really do the job.
“It didn’t really turn it into a powder at all,” she said.
Fendelet said the coffee grinder worked best but the next step in the process she would not have access to because it has to be done in a lab.
“The next step of that would be to turn it into a plastic, but you’d have to soak it in a chemical,” Fendelet said.
She came to the idea because of the prominence of cigarette butts in littering.
“I just researched the most littered thing in the world, which are cigarette butts, and then it just kind of led me down the rabbit hole of researching to get to here.”
Fendelet said she looked at the concept subjectively. She wanted to stop having cigarette butts as litter.
“An organization does recycle them yeah but it’s US-based,” she explained. “I emailed SARCAN because I’m like, well you bring your cans there why not just bring your cigarettes with you but there’s no actual place manufacturing the equipment to actually recycle them.”
Jade Bremner placed second with her project: “Self Healing Biodegradable Plastic.”
“I made two different types of biodegradable plastic, one gelatin-based and one cornstarch-based,” Bremner explained. “I wanted to see if it could repair itself with either moisture heat
or pressure. Basically I made the plastics and I tested how strong they were. Then I used the plastic, cut it up, and then used either heat, moisture, pressure, or even all three.
“I tested it and left it for 12 hours and then I tested the strength of my plastic after.”
She said one of the plastics healed better than all of the others.
“The gelatin-based plastic healed with water was first. It healed very well. I couldn’t even rip it when I tried pulling it apart. The second place was my gelatin-based plastic healed with pressure,” Bremner said.
She explained that she came to the idea because of a website called Science Buddies.
“I saw biodegradable plastic because I’m really into the environment and stuff,” Bremner said. “I thought, ’oh, that’s cool.’ But then I was like, ‘I need something to add to it.’ I just saw this video of how plastic can heal itself, fix itself … and then I kind of just did lots of research just on biodegradable plastic.”
Both Fendalet and Bremner are just happy to be able to make the trip to Edmonton.
“I feel like there’ll be a lot of people and I’m just kind of happy to go, Fendelet said.
“I’m really fortunate to just get out of PA and just go to that meet,” Bremner said.
They were also both happy to represent their small schools at the national level.
The organizers thanked the sponsors, volunteers and judges for all their support in putting the event together.
Both Fendelet and Bremner thanked the organizers of the Science Fair for all of their work.
Prince Albert and NE Regional Science Fair continue to fundraise to send these two worthy recipients and one chaperone to CWSF.
Canada-Wide Science Fair, the country’s largest annual youth STEM event, will be held May 23 to 30 in Edmonton.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
Top Three Finishers by category
Grade 5
3rd place Hudson Johnson & Jaxon Stene from Shellbrook Elementary: Five Second Rule,
2nd place Aubryn Olson & Shaelyn McAleese from Shellbrook Elementary School: Wind Turbines
1st place Zayden Parsons from Shellbrook Elementary School: The Hydraulic Claw.
Grade 6
3rd place Serena Goerzen from Christopher Lake School: How Long Should You Wash Your Hands For?,
2nd place Finn Green from Christopher Lake School: The Ultimate Meltdown: What Type of Salt Melts Ice the Fastest?,
1st place Lauren Gorder from Red Wing School: Sprayable Home Protection Gel.
Grade 7
3rd place Ava Nagy & Mikayla Jones from Christopher Lake School : How Does Stress Affect Your Health,
2nd place Abrey Law & Jane de Villier from Red Wing School: Which Orange Juice Has the Most Vitamin C?
1st place Jade Bremner from Red Wing School: Self Healing Biodegradable Plastic.
Grade 8
3rd Tayen Kristiansen from Spruce Home School: Do Bully-Victims Have the Lowest Self-Esteem?
2nd Kyana Carnegie from Christopher Lake School: Affordable Diagnosis: Can a Homemade Centrifuge Accurately Separate Blook Contents Suitable for Parasite Detection?
1st Ella Fendelet from Christopher Lake School: Filters to Fibers: Can You Make a New Product Out of Cigarette Butts?
High School
– 3rd Lyndon Haskey from DLC: How Does Music Type Affect Radish Seed Germination and Growth?
2nd Vraj Patel and Tessa Bruce from Carlton Comprehensive High School: Environmental Impacts of the Prince Albert Pulp and Paper Mill,
1st Avairy Hildebrandt from the DLC: Tiny Plastics, Big Problem.