REF 0 179.9 .J62 v. 11 2006 00 0 000 0 0000 0 0 00oo0000000000000o o 0000000000000 o 00 ooo000 00000000 0 U 000900000000 H 000 0 00o 0 00000 00000 000 . .. : : � ; :� :� 1 iN�;·"J�u;�a�····�t·l········································· I :sTUDENT! I !RESEARCH! · · · i ·vaumexi!ABSTRACTS: ����J ... .c ..... ... �-�0 J 2 l i' Ill ... QJ Editor > Steven Oppenheimer c: B. :::> California State University, Northridge QJ ..... n3 ..... "' n3 Sponsor l � Van Nuys Airport ll ... < Ill >­ ::J z s:: n3 > liS� >­ Van Nuys .0 "C Los Angeles Wo1'ld Airports QJ � .r::. Ill .0 California State University Northridge .UL-----------�---- l g_ Copyright © 2006 by Van Nuys Airport and California State University, Northridge. All rights reserved. Permission in writing must be obtained from Van Nuys Airport and California State University, Northridge, before any part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval sys­ tem. Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress: ISSN 1558-7932 Please visit Van Nuys Airport's website at www.lawa.org/vny Van Nuys Los Angeles World Airports California State University Northridge 2 Credits New Journal of Editor-In-Chief Steven B. Oppenheimer, Ph.D. Director, Center for Cancer and Developmental Biology, and STUDENT Trustees Outstanding Professor, the CSU System, California State University, Northridge. RESEA RCH Associate Editors Helen Chun, Ph.D. California State University, Dominguez Hills. ABSTRACTS Van Nuys Airport Public and Community Relations Staff, including Project Lead Ashley Volume XI Gomez; and Mindy F. Berman. 2006 Sponsor Van Nuys Airport (VNY)- the world's busiest general aviation airport, owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports- begins its sponsor­ ship of the New Journal of Student Research Abstracts with this 2006 edition. VNY Contributors An Annual Journal for Selena Birk, Airport Manager; Stacy Geere, Public and Community Relations Director; Young Investigators and Their Teachers Van Nuys Airport Tour Guides; Jay Berkowitz, Photographer; Ashley Gomez, Student Assistant; Stephanie Webb, Student Assistant. Journal design: Alvalyn Lundgren/Aivalyn Creative. Additional journal development support: Mindy F. Berman Communications. About the Editor California State University, Northridge Steven B. Oppenheimer received the Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University and is Support currently Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Cancer and Developmental Jolene Koester, President; Harry Hellenbrand, Biology at California State University, Northridge. He is author or co-author, mostly with Provost; Jerry Luedders, Vice Provost; Mack his Cal State students, of about 200 publications, including books and book editions; Johnson, Associate Vice President; Jerry 14 was awarded over million in research and science education grants serving as Stinner, Dean, College of Science and $16 Mathematics; Larry Allen, Chair, Biology Principal Investigator; and served on National Institutes of Health and National Science Department; Carmen Chandler, John Chandler, Foundation grant review panels. He serves on the editorial board and is editor for the Brenda Roberts and Randal Thomson, Public United States, Canada and South America of the international journal ACTA Histochemica, published by Elsevier. He is recipient of distinguished teaching awards, Relations. 26 distinguished research awards, outstanding professor awards and other honors from Los Angeles Unified School District local, statewide and national organizations. In he was named statewide Trustees Collaboration 1984, Outstanding Professor of the California State University system (the system's highest Dr. Todd Ullah, Director of Science; Dan honor), and in he was elected Fellow of the American Association for the McDonnell, Science Advisor; Don Kawano, 1992 Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS defines a Fellow as "a member whose Science Advisor. efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or Teacher Training Support socially distinguished." Maria Lopez Freeman, California Science Editor's e-mail address: [email protected]. Project; Karen Humphrey and Linda Barton White, Improving Teacher Quality Program; Gerry Simila, Gini Vandergon, Norm Herr and Steven Oppenheimer, Training Leaders. About the Associate Editor Helen H. Chun received her Ph.D. and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Recognition of Some of the Scientist Mentors Larry Allen, Ph.D.; Lisa Banner, Ph.D.; Larry Baresi, California, Los Angeles. She currently is an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department Ph.D.; Edward Carroll, Ph.D.; Randy Cohen, at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is a researcher in the molecular biolo­ Ph.D.; John Colicelli, Ph.D.; Mary Corcoran, gy of disease, specifically studying ataxia-telangiectasia and systemic lupus erythemato­ Ph.D.; Cathy Coyle-Thompson, Ph.D.; Steve sus. Dudgeon, Ph.D.; Robert Espinoza, Ph.D.; Richard Flagan, Ph.D.; Janet Kubler, Ph.D.; Jennifer Matos, Ph.D.; Aida Metzenberg, Ph.D.; Stan About the Sponsor Metzenberg, Ph.D.; Steven Oppenheimer, Ph.D.; Polly Schiffman, Ph.D.; Ryoichi Seki, Ph.D.; Gerry Owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, Van Nuys Airport (VNY) ranks as Simila, Ph.D.; Mary Lee Sparling, Ph.D.; Mike the world's busiest general aviation airport, averaging nearly 500,000 takeoffs and land­ Summers, Ph.D.; Paul Tomasek, Ph.D.; Virginia ings annually. A facility dedicated to noncommercial air travel, VNY meets corporate, pri­ Vandergon, Ph.D.; Paul Wilson, Ph.D.; Maria vate and governmental aviation needs- in the process providing vital aviation services, Elena Zavala, Ph.D.; Peter Weigand, Ph.D.; enhancing efficiency at the region's commercial airports, creating jobs, promoting busi­ George Dunne, Ph.D.; Kathie Marsaglia, Ph.D.; ness, and serving as a valued San Fernando Valley community resource. Vicki Pedone, Ph.D.; Greg Grether, Ph.D.; David Epel, Ph.D. (evaluation); Susie Hakansson, Ph.D. As part of its community involvement, VNY supports a wide array of education programs, (evaluation); Norman Herr, Ph.D. (implementa­ and offers tours, presentations and other activities to help adults and youth alike learn tion). about the exciting world of aviation in the San Fernando Valley and beyond. Sponsor's website: www.lawa.org/vny. 3 About the Journal and Abstracts The New Journal of Student Research Abstracts is published yearly on or about May by Van 1 Nuys Airport. Continued publication is always dependent on funding. The journal is intended to serve as a vehicle to honor young investigators and their teach­ (1) ers by showcasing their work, motivating them to continue their involvement in research sci­ ence; a sourcebook for both students and teachers who are looking for ideas for research (2) projects, particularly in the areas of aviation and aerospace; and a volume to disseminate (3) student research discoveries. Each year, Van Nuys Airport Many abstracts included in the journal demonstrate good science, i.e. clear introductions will provide special recogni­ describing hypothesis to be tested, methods, results and conclusion statements, and - most tion and awards to the best important- sufficient numbers of appropriate control and experimental samples and repeti­ published aviation- or aero­ tions of experiments. Other abstracts do not display one or more of the principles of perfect space-related abstract (as science. The journal does not eliminate abstracts that do not demonstrate perfect science; the selected by the journal editor) editor, however, reviews all abstracts and reserves the right not to publish those that are seri­ ously flawed. The journal does not notify authors if their abstracts have been deleted. in three categories: elementary school (grades Some of the abstracts are experimental plans instead of completed projects. This is especial­ kindergarten through 5), ly true in the case of long-term, sophisticated research programs that require extensive set­ middle school (grades 6 up and planning. The journal encourages abstracts on the planning and progress of such proj­ through and high school ects. 8) (grades 9 through 12). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations are those of the individual We look forward to seeing authors of the abstracts presented in the journal, and do not necessarily reflect the views of students' outstanding Van Nuys Airport, California State University, Northridge, other contributing organizations research project submissions! and individuals, or the journal staff. Submission of Abstracts Any science teacher may submit student abstracts following the format used with the abstracts in this volume. After the title, followed by student author names and teacher name (teacher), school and school street address, city, state and zip code, abstracts should begin with the purpose of the study, followed by how it was done, and then the results and conclusions. All abstracts must be typed in 11-point Arial font, error-free. Messy abstracts and those not following proper format will be discarded. The journal is not responsible for any abstracts received or for publication errors. The journal does not acknowledge receipt of abstracts and never guarantees that they will be published or that the journal will be published in any given year. Only teachers may submit their students' abstracts to the journal. Te achers should