Some area students at the 56th annual Regional Science Fair spent weeks readying their projects for competition. Others admittedly spent only a few days, but what they presented at the fair Tuesday in the Show Me Center at Southeast Missouri State University was a representation of many students' interests and, sometimes, their sense of humor.

Projects entered by students from 33 Southeast Missouri high schools included some attention-getting titles, such as "Yuck! What Happened to my Apple?," "Peaceful or Punky Music for Porkier Hogs," and "I'm Sudsy and I Know It!"

Some students decided to tackle health and beauty issues with their projects, such as one that tested the lead levels in toys and "Pool Water vs. Hair."

Others focused on safety, like "Consequences of Texting and Driving." At least one student may have a future as a forensic scientist. Their project was titled "Blood, Can It Be Hidden?"

A few students chose to use themselves as guinea pigs and improve their classroom marks with projects such as "Effect of Breakfast on Science Grades."

Many students chose hunting-related themes or sports. John Gray, an eighth-grader from Leopold, said he and most other students did their projects mostly for class credit but were glad to participate in the fair because they had a chance to experience what other students did with their ideas. His favorite was a high schooler's project that determined which brand of gun ammunition was tested as being most accurate.

Nell Holcomb seventh-grader Brad Orenstein with his "Wind Power" science fair project Tuesday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. (Laura Simon)

His classmate Brittany Garland liked a project where store-brand and name-brand popcorn were pitted against each other to see which could produce the most popped corn kernels.

"At least now I know that," she said. "It will be good to know when I do my own shopping."

Most projects came from junior high students, who submitted 279. Forty-two high school projects were submitted.

eragan@semissourian.com

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