Montauk Student Wins 2014 BNL Science Fair
For the first time, a Montauk School student has won the Brookhaven National Laboratory’s annual science fair.
Kendall Stedman, a sixth-grader, placed first over other sixth grade contestants. At the Suffolk County Legislature’s meeting on June 3, Deputy Presiding Officer Jay Schneiderman, also a Montauk resident, presented Kendall with a proclamation for her success in the competition.
Every year, over 100 Suffolk County schools take part in BNL’s Elementary School Science Fair. Approximately 500 children from kindergarten through sixth grade participated in the 2014 fair.
BNL scientists and local elementary school teachers judged the contest.
For her project, Kendall studied how music can affect the human heart and whether different types of music cause a person’s heart rate to slow down or speed up. Kendall tested her subjects’ resting heart rates with a pulse oximeter and compared the results to each person’s heart rate as they listened to specific genres of music.
Based on her analysis, Kendall determined that classical music slows the heart rate, while pop and rock music increases it. According to Schneiderman’s office, Kendall is now interested in learning more about music therapy as a career.