For an English assignment, he tested the bacteria content at four water fountains and one toilet to challenge a ban on students' bringing bottled water to class. It seems some were using the bottles to sneak in alcohol.
Guess which water was cleaner? (Hint: It wasn't the water fountains.)
He then asked students where they would prefer to get their water. That wasn't the fountains, either.
Classmates, teachers, administrators and board members said they had no idea.
Katherman attends the Oregon Coast Technology School that operates at North Bend Middle School with a focus on infusing technology into all areas of study.
Katherman, 13, used Q-tips and petri dishes, swabbing the spigots of four fountains and sampling one toilet, dunking the cotton in the bowl's center and then dragging it around the rim for a complete sample.
He took the results to the school lab and put them under a light to speed up the bacteria's growth.
The petri dishes with fountain water were swarming with bacteria. The sample from the toilet was clean, probably because the toilets are doused with cleansing chemicals daily.
"I wanted to see the looks on their faces," Katherman said.
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