Young scientists presented their research and competed for awards, prizes and scholarships in an on-campus science fair over the weekend.

The State Science and Technology Fair drew more than 400 6th to 12th-grade students to Hilton Coliseum Friday and Saturday.

Andrea Spencer, director of the fair and extension program specialist for youth and 4H, said the event presents an important opportunity “for kids to learn good research technique and communication skills.”

The students spent Friday afternoon displaying posters of their projects and explaining their research to judges and interested parents and teachers.

Many of the students’ research concerned everyday phenomena for which scientific explanations were not available.

“When I was swimming a lot, I noticed my skin was always dry. I wanted to find out if the pool I swam at had too many chemicals,” said Rachel Brown, 7th grader at Ames Middle School.

Brown took water samples over several days in five Ames pools and compared their chemical composition, carrying out a statistical analysis to evaluate the validity of her results. The results showed the pool she swam in had a higher concentration of disinfectant chemicals than other area pools.

Other students chose topics based on their concern for large-scale world problems.

“Renewable energy is a very big topic this year,” said volunteer judge Danielle Wilson, freshman in agriculture.

Dozens of projects focused on alternative energy technology, including a study of the effect of the blade shape and efficiency of wind turbines and research on ethanol production from bluestem grasses.

South O’Brien High School senior Paden Roder took up the alternative energy challenge on a miniature scale. Roder developed a working prototype of an invention capable of using the motion of typing on a keyboard to produce electricity.

“This is something I’ve worked on for a long time, so it’s really nice to be able to display it and enlighten people,” Roder said.

A number of students gave seminars on their research in the Scheman Building Friday night, and afterward a dance was held for the competitors. Presentations were also given by students Saturday.

The fair culminated Saturday evening with an awards ceremony in Hilton Coliseum. Top researchers in each grade level were recognized, and thousands of dollars in scholarships and prizes were awarded. Several successful competitors walked away with more than $5,000 in awards.

All four of the top high school researchers were students from Central Lee High School. Spencer said that “this is the first year that one school came to sweep all the awards.”

“This is very exciting,” said Central Lee teacher and ISU alumna Alicia Schiller, who served as a mentor for the four students.

Jamilee Lightfoot, senior at Central Lee, won top honors in the physical sciences category for her project, “Pond Scum: Power Plan of the Future.”