Chana enjoys writing music and playing her guitar. She is a gymnast and is also involved in art club and student government. Chana's mentor is her science teacher because "she continually inspires me with her search for solutions, her creative thinking, her wisdom that she shares with everyone, and her ever-present challenging questions." Chana hopes to pursue a career in pediatric oncology so she can combine her love of children with her desire to find solutions that lead to cures.
Living near endangered wetlands, Daniella and Chana learned that nearby abandoned factories were leeching toxic metals into the ground. They heard about phytoremediation—using plants to extract toxins from soil—and wanted to see how it worked.
Daniella and Chana grew wheat and other grasses in potting soil and in contaminated soil. They added various chelating agents, which help pull the metals out of the soil, and acetic acid, which enhances the effectiveness of chelating agents. They then tested all soil and plant tissue samples for heavy metals. Soy was the most effective phytoremediator, pulling nearly 100% of toxic metals from their soil samples.
