Elena is involved in cheerleading, volleyball, and academic bowl. She performs in musicals and likes to act. She also expresses her creativity through drawing, painting, and sewing. Elena would like to become a medical research scientist. "I find it exciting to discover new things, and I would like those scientific discoveries to benefit others," she says.
Mrs. Coulson, Elena's junior high science teacher, is her mentor. "She has encouraged me to go beyond the classroom and enter science competitions such as science fair and junior academy of science," Elena says.
Elena learned that pasteurization destroys 33-50 percent of the ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in foods and beverages such as apple cider. The company in her town that makes evaporative cooling towers uses ozone (triatomic oxygen) to purify water. Elena wanted to determine whether ozone would affect the levels of ascorbic acid and the number of bacteria colonies in unpasteurized apple cider.
Elena obtained apple cider from a local apple orchard and worked with scientists at the cooling tower company to ozonate it. Elena applied four different amounts of ozone to the unpasteurized cider and then calculated the amount of ascorbic acid and the number of bacteria colonies that remained. Elena found that when compared to the control, the ozone application of 5.2 and 7.9 grams per cubic meter did affect the amount of ascorbic acid. Additionally, she discovered that when compared to the control, the 7.9 ozonation did affect the amount of bacteria colonies. Through mathematical analysis, she figured out the proper amount necessary for zero-percent bacteria colonies. Elena concluded that ozonation could be a viable alternative to pasteurization. Her data indicate that the ozonation reduced the amount of ascorbic acid by only 0.1 percent; pasteurization reduces the amount of ascorbic acid by 33-50 percent, thus requiring synthetic ascorbic acid to be added to the product.
