If you’re having trouble remembering things, you may want to visit Jim Marxmiller’s honors chemistry class at Mountain View Academy and ask student Sidney Choi for quick tips.

Choi recently entered the Santa Clara County Science Fair, with his research project, "Factors that Can Enhance or Degrade Memory." He entered with 1,100 other high school students and won first place in his category.

There was another opportunity to see Choi’s winning science experiment as he vied against 900 other students at the California State Science Fair in May.

Of course, it’s a great honor for this 16-year-old junior to have been chosen from among all those students’ entries. It’s also another feather in the cap of Jim Marxmiller, who’s been a science educator for 32 years.

"We’ve entered students in the science fair for the last six years, and have done very well for a small school," says Marxmiller. "We have 135 students and compete with public schools that have 10 times that many students. All of my honors chemistry students are required to enter, and this year we got five winners, which is 33 percent of our entries. That’s pretty good."

When Choi was presented with the assignment, he went to his father for suggestions. "My dad likes reading a lot about neurology about the brain, and we came up with the idea of memory," says Choi. "I actually had a lot of fun doing the research. A majority of my time was spent experimenting on 20 of my friends and some staff. That was the best experience to learn first-hand about these results."

Marxmiller thinks winning a prize is just a small part of the process. "It [the project] enhances their problem-solving, higher-thinking, analytical, science approach to life," he says.

And if you want to know what Choi found was the best way to enhance memory, he’ll tell you it’s taking "a 20-minute walk before studying just to get fresh air in your body," he says. "It increases memory by five to 10 percent."

Some of the best memories are those the Mountain View Academy students glean during their time spent with teachers like Marxmiller. "He’s got a lot of wisdom," says Choi. "He has so much information and can refer to so many resources. He definitely has a good memory."