There are many uses for gelatin dessert mix -- from the main ingredient in fruit molds to the lubricant in some dance contests at bars -- but cushioning tall buildings from damaging earthquakes is not one of them.

That, sadly, was Kiran Peri's finding, presented Monday at the Sussex County Science Fair at the Virden Center at the University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies in Lewes.

Kiran, an 11th-grader at Cape Henlopen High School, was intrigued by the damage earthquakes can cause and wondered whether a gelatin-like substance could help cushion the vibrations of the earth.

So he made up several batches of Jell-O, covered them with soil, added a wooden structure to play the role of a skyscraper and placed the setup on a miniature trampoline-like device that he created to simulate the vibrations from an earthquake.

The key, said Colleen Hogan-Tinsman, one of the science fair organizers, is that middle and high school students learn to use the scientific method to approach problems.

Michelle observed the rodents for two weeks and then started giving half her mice doses of the diet medication. Turns out, the unmedicated mice slept a lot. The medicated ones scurried around and stayed busy, she said.

Parker used sunflower seedlings to test her hypothesis. The plants with the worms did grow better and faster, and they had an improved chance of survival, she said.

Students from Cape Henlopen, Woodbridge, The Learning Center, The Jefferson School and the Sussex Academy participated in the fair. Winners go on to a mid-Atlantic regional competition in Pennsylvania with winners from surrounding states, said Rob Schroeder, an event organizer.

Woodbridge teacher Dawn Lucas said the projects are a great opportunity for students to take an idea and study it in detail. Sometimes, she said, they come in with grand ideas and quickly realize projects are limited by costs and materials.

Schroeder, a retired science teacher, said the advantage to students is that they get a chance to try real-world, live research -- work that isn't always a part of the regular classroom experience.

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