Almost 430 students from 46 Iowa middle and high schools gathered at Hilton Coliseum Friday and Saturday for the 46th annual State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa.

Projects displayed by the students included everything from determining what stain remover works best on chocolate to the effects of hot tubs on blood pressure.

Junior high and high school students participated both individually and in teams. Their projects were divided into the physical science and biological science fields.

“Some of the high school presentations are getting to be pretty elaborate,” said Kris Groff, seminar chairman for the fair.

He said students often will begin working on a project in middle school and continue working on the project for four or five years, making it better each time the student presents it at the fair.

He said several fair participants have begun to team up with university professors to help them better understand their project.

Connie Sikinyi, an Ames Middle School student and the only participant from Ames, teamed up with an ISU professor to work on her project about Parkinson’s disease.

She said her favorite part was interviewing people diagnosed with Parkinson’s because it helped her better understand the disease. She said she also enjoyed drawing the human brain for her project.

Sikinyi said she hopes to participate in the fair again next year.

Groff said most of the students participating already have an interest in science but he hopes the fair will help the students to develop a greater interest in science.

“This is the only state science fair,” Groff said. He said it started out as the Hawkeye Science Fair, but moved to Iowa State seven years ago.

Benjamin Allen, vice president for Academic Affairs and provost at Iowa State, said hosting the science fair at Iowa State is a “perfect fit” because of the university’s emphasis on science.

Allen urged the students participating in the fair to continue scientific research. He said he hoped “as people who understand science and technology, [students] will use every opportunity to teach others.”

He said science can bring help, peace and prosperity to the world.

The fair also featured a presentation by the ISU Chemistry Club and a movie shown in the Scheman building.

Prizes were awarded at the sixth, seventh and eighth grade levels.

High school students received scholarships along with other prizes.

Totaled together, this year’s awards reached nearly $32,000.

The fair’s largest award of $5,000 was given to West Central Valley High School student Adam Forshier of Redfield for his project “Wind: Energy of the Future.”

This year’s three top winners will go to the international science fair competition in Cleveland.