Lena Lu and Maria Naqvi came up with a sweet idea for their senior project. Ice cream! Cool! 
 
No really, the Rowland High seniors decided to experiment with ice cream for their senior seminar. 
 
The 17-year-olds are working on certificates in the health and medical fields. Lu also wants a certificate in business. 
 
And everyone knows ice cream is big business. Just stand in line at a Coldstone Creamery or a Baskin Robbins store. 
 
The frozen knowledge should also come in handy for Naqvi, who hopes to become a pediatrician. Kids all love ice cream. 
 
So the dynamic duo decided to try their hand at making ice cream. They wanted to delve into the secrets of this delectable dessert. 
 
"We made it
Kelly Jung, left, and Angel Kong make their Senior Seminar presentation.
by hand and the stirring was a pain. It was horrible," Lu noted.
 
And some of their concoctions sounded just as bad. 
 
The two decided to stick with vanilla flavoring, but experimented with different fat contents. The seniors and their mothers then graded the creamy concoctions.
Low-fat ice cream: F. One percent ice cream: F. 
 
"Half-and-half ice cream also got an F, it was kinda bitter," Lu said. 
 
The whole milk formula got the only A. 
 
"Whole milk was the best in taste, texture and quality," Naqvi explained.
Surprisingly, fat-free and 2 percent ice cream both earned passing grades. 
 
The seniors should have brought samples to woo the panel of community members judging their presentations. But somehow, the experiments all got eaten or melted.
The young women were just two of the many seniors presenting their projects to the panel of judges on April 8 in the high school library. 
 
"The students suggest project ideas, and I try to approve something interesting," said Laura Hier, the senior seminar adviser. 
 
Dressed in their best suits and dresses, the nervous seniors took turns presenting their projects to a panel of local businessmen and community
Rowland senior student Derek Makishima gestures during his team's presentation.
leaders.
Patrick Chan and Felicia Wong had the right idea. They decided to run lab experiments for other Rowland students. 
 
With a brief nod to Easter, the seniors described one of their "eggs"periments.
"We used eggs to demonstrate osmosis," Chan said. 
 
For those of us without a degree in biology, osmosis is the diffusion of fluids through a porous partition. In this case, vinegar soaking through an egg shell. 
 
The two also ran an experiment on good and bad bacteria.
"When we explained that bacteria is used to make both cheese and yogurt, many of the kids were disgusted," Wong reported. 
 
The pair said the students were "really excited" by a burning money lab.
"Surprisingly, they even gave us their own money to demonstrate," Chan said.
The two soaked the cash in alcohol, then set it on fire.
"The alcohol burns, but the paper doesn't," Wong explained. 
 
She plans to become a pharmacologist. Chan would like to become a nurse in an emergency room. 
 
Seniors at Nogales High School presented their projects the next day.
No word on what tasty experiments those students came up with. 
 
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