Finding Inspiration for Science Fair Projects May Be Easier Than You Think

By Mark Miller

Winner Dinner

Tina Jin, age 13 from San Jose, California, won the top prize in the 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (Thermo Fisher JIC), a program of Society for Science, with an idea sparked by the bones left over from her evening meal. “While eating dinner, I saw the ends of cow bones had small holes closely packed together in a porous structure,” she wrote on her project poster.

After making this observation, she learned that the composition of this type of bone—known as trabecular or cancellous bone—was similar to polymer membranes used as filters. She also discovered “that the calcium phosphate in the bones plays a significant role in water filtration.”

“My goal was to create a home-based system that anyone could replicate using household materials, with minimal cost, so that people from impoverished, under-resourced communities who need clean water the most could use it,” she said in the Yahoo Finance article “XYZ Media Spotlights Tina Jin’s Affordable Water Filtration System Using Cow Bone Waste in ‘Next Generation of Innovators’ Series.”

Household Hydration

With the possible exception of a saw capable of cutting bone, the filtration method Tina developed can be performed with items available virtually anywhere. It involves sawing bones into slices, boiling them, and grinding them into a powder. Dirty water is poured through the ground material, then boiled to produce clean water. Her method was tested by the San Jose Water Company, and the results met their standards for potable water.

The World Health Organization has reported that one out of three people globally don’t have access to clean drinking water. Tina’s innovative filter could help solve this problem and make the world a healthier place.

Get in the Game

According to the Society for Science, competitions like the Thermo Fisher JIC are held in nearly every state in the U.S. and over 70 other countries, regions, and territories. The article “Family, friends and community inspired these high school scientists” from Science News Explores shows that many times, as with Tina’s filter, the sources of inspiration for competing in one of these events are all around you, like when:

• A visit to a homegrown honey vendor at a flea market inspired Charisse Zou to create mazes that test how bees’ memories might be affected by insecticides.
• Amanrai Singh Kahlon transformed the trauma of a friend’s cerebral palsy into an innovative way to collect data about the way people walk.
• A lesson about enzymes in Aditi Avinash’s freshman biology class led to her work on a pill that could help aid digestion for those with gluten intolerance.

Inspired moments like these are only the beginning. A lot of research, hard work, and many challenges likely lie ahead for your project. But sometimes, the toughest part is just getting started.

Learn more about the Thermo Fisher JIC at societyforscience.org/jic/.