March 10, 2010

More than 300 students put in hundreds of hours of work to compete in the Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair Wednesday.

In the process, they learned about science while competing for the grand prize.

In a room filled with dozens of questions, hypotheses and results, students in Central Virginia showed off their science skills at the 29th annual fair at the John Paul Jones Arena.

"They've done a great job of getting all of their experimentation complete, and here they are to compete here today," fair director Adrian Felts said.

Students in grades six through 12 competed Wednesday in a variety of categories from environmental management to animal science.

"I did Fish Frenzy. I tested the fish and I did their gill rate per minute in different temperatures of water," said participant Henry Pollard from the Covenant School.

"[Mine is] about growing plants upside down and seeing how they react from stimulus of light and gravity," said participant Laura Ungar of Sutherland Middle School.

Students chose their own topics, collected their own data and put together interactive displays. Special awards judges wandered the floor to learn about the projects and to give out one of 50 awards. The goal of the event was to show kids how fun science can be.

"Hopefully we'll get some people, some kids that decide that science is where they want to go with their career," Felts said.

And at least one student has made her decision.

"I'm going to be a scientist," Ungar said. "I don't know what field, though. I like biology and I like plants a lot, too."

Win or lose, the students took part in an experience they won't soon forget.

"I think it's cool because they picked only 20 kids in our school, so I think that's an honor," Pollard said.

The grand prize winners will move on from the regional fair to the international fair, where they have a chance to win $50,000.

The winner from last year's regional fair won that $50,000 prize at the international level. Felts said he's hoping for a repeat.