Shaunak "Shaun" Dalal, an eighth-grade student at Hershey Middle School, was one of 30 finalists in the 2022 Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars), a national STEM competition for middle school students that took place in Washington, D.C., from Oct. 28 to Nov. 2, 2022.

Shaun's project was titled "Effect Upon Closure Dynamics of the Application of Weak Acids to the Pulvinus of the Venus Fly Trap."

Shaun's project stemmed from his interest in two areas of science: environmental studies and neuroscience. Plants respond to stimuli in their environment, yet they don't have a brain or central nervous system. Shaun was especially curious about the Venus fly trap, which is native to acidic, swampy areas in the southeastern United States. The carnivorous plant uses specialized hinged leaves to trap insects or other small animals for supplemental nutrition. When something touches sensitive hairs on the edges, the stimulus causes sodium ions to flow. That triggers electrical signals, and those signals make the trap snap shut. Shaun wondered if weak acids might affect the process.

Shaun's experiment used four Venus fly trap plants with a total of 18 traps. He first established the baseline closure time without any treatment. To do that, he stimulated the traps with a toothpick. Video from a phone camera let him time how quickly each trap closed. Most traps opened again a day or so later.

Then, Shaun poured 10 milliliters (2 teaspoons) of a 5% citric acid solution onto each plant. After 90 minutes, he timed the traps' closures again. He gave the plants four days to recover, then did the same procedure with a 5% acetic acid solution. After the citric acid application, Shaun reported that the average closing times decreased slightly. The acetic acid solution did not seem to affect the closing times.

Overall, Shaun found it took longer for traps to reopen after treatment with the acids. He also noticed some harm to the plants. He concluded that a larger sample size with more plants and separate groups for each acid might be helpful for future work.

Shaun's other interests include soccer, cross-country, tennis and Taekwondo. "I find soccer most pleasurable because of the amount of sportsmanship and teamwork," he said. He also plays the violin and piano. He hopes to become a neurologist.

To view a list of projects and the winners of the competition, visit http://www.societyforscience.org, choose "Science Competitions" and then select "Broadcom MASTERS."