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Inventive Galveston sixth-grader wins state science award

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GALVESTON
A science-driven sixth-grader will go down in Galveston Independent School District history for taking home a blue ribbon from the state science competition for her invention of a feminine hygiene product made entirely of banana tree trunks.
Sable Clift, 12, a student at Austin Middle School, is the first middle-school student in the district to ever place first at the competition, Superintendent Jerry Gibson said.
The last time a student represented GISD at the state science fair was in 2019, and that was a Ball High School student, he said.
The road to the state competition was a long one, Clift said.
Clift placed first at both district and regional competitions before she went to College Station for the state competition, where she competed against sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders at the Texas A&M University Texas Science and Engineering Fair, held March 24 and 25.
The district sent 54 students to the regional competition, but only Clift took home a blue ribbon and advanced to the state level.
Clift grows bananas in her yard, and the idea of banana pads came to her after one of her banana trees flowered and produced fruit, she said.
Individual banana trees can flower and bear fruit just once.
My family is also very passionate about the environment, and I know that feminine products contain a lot of plastics and non-biodegradable materials, she said.
In tests leading up to the first district competition in January, Clift cut a banana tree trunk into 10 chunks and put each in a Ziploc bag, leaving five open and five closed.
I measured the chunks every two days since we were trying to evaporate the water out of them, she said.
The process was moving too slow, so she baked each chunk, she said.
It lost about 50 percent of its weight and reabsorbed a quarter of an ounce of water, she said. A general Diva cup (a reusable menstrual cup) holds anywhere from half an ounce to an ounce of liquid.
Her testing showed the plant could be suitable for an eco-friendly hygiene product.
Clift said she owes a lot of her successes to a partner who assisted in the award-winning invention, Austin Middle School sixth-grader June Simmons.
I really want her to have some credit for the invention, Clift said.
Although Simmons couldnt make it to the state competition, she and Clift will be involved in the extension project next year, which will involve making further improvements to banana pads.
After taking home three first-place prizes, Clift will soon prepare for another competition.
Clift was a national nominee for the 2023 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators challenge. Only the top 10 percent of middle school students involved in state competitions from around the country are invited to compete in the challenge. The challenges top award is $25,000.
I am so proud of her, Cathy Nall, district science fair coordinator and science teacher, said. Being nominated for that national challenge is huge.
Sarah Grunau: 409-683-5226;

Saturday, April 8, 2023 at 2:30 am

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