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NEWS RELEASE

04-03-02

Contacts:
Andrea Spencer, Science Fair Director, (712) 359-2437
Howard Shapiro, Provost's Office, (515) 294-6365
Skip Derra, News Service, (515) 294-4917

STATE'S BEST SCIENCE PROJECTS ON DISPLAY AT IOWA STATE

AMES, Iowa -- Ever wonder if using household appliances can affect your health? Or what exactly is in your drinking water? Can field-waste biomass be converted into usable energy? How does music influence a student's learning? These are some of the questions that will be explored at the 2002 State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa.

Students from across Iowa will show off their best science projects at the fair April 9-10. Some 430 students will be exhibiting 355 projects at the fair. Science fair events are free and open to the public.

The fair is the only statewide general science fair for middle- and high-school students in Iowa. Science fair exhibits will be on display in Iowa State University's Hilton Coliseum Tuesday, 1-5 p.m., and Wednesday, 9 a.m.-2:45 p.m. The fair concludes Wednesday with an awards ceremony at 5 p.m., which also is open to the public.

"The science fair is a great benefit to students because it allows them to develop their knowledge and skills in science and technology," said Howard Shapiro, ISU vice provost and chair of the science fair board.

"Iowa's best and brightest students participate in the science fair and it is amazing to see the level of science at which they perform," added Andrea Spencer, director of the fair.

Science fair entries are broadly divided into physical and biological sciences. Awards are given at three levels: seventh grade, eighth grade and senior (ninth through 12th grades). Prizes will be awarded at the seventh- and eighth-grade levels. High school winners receive scholarships as well as other prizes.

New this year will be a division for sixth grade competitors. It will be a trial year for this division, Spencer said.

The value of awards to be given out this year is approximately $30,000. The Iowa Space Grant Consortium will sponsor a $5,000, one-year tuition grant, which can be used at any of Iowa's regents universities or Drake University. The Iowa Biotechnology Association also will hand out $5,000 in scholarships to projects judged to be the best in the life sciences. Whitney Memorial Scholarships will be handed out to first, second and third place winners in the high school biological and physical sciences divisions.

Last year the big winner was Amber Hohl of Central Lee High School in Donnellson, who presented her research on the Tardigrada species, an eight-legged micro-metazoan, which occupies a wide range of habitats in marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. She won a $5,000 scholarship for her project.

"We expect the students participating in this year's fair to have equally exciting projects on display, and we invite everyone to come see them," Shapiro said.

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Editors:
To access a zipped Excel file of the list of students participating in this year's science fair, including their hometowns and the schools they attend, go to http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/SSTFI_Distribution.xls.zip.