HAMPTON ROADS STUDENTS SHOW OFF SCIENCE KNOW-HOW

Seventh-grader Nick Low plays center for the Virginia Beach Mustangs, a Pop Warner football team. He got a mild concussion last season, and that is why, on Saturday, he was dressed in a suit and tie, standing next to a science fair project on a tri-fold display labeled, "Which Football Helmet Would You Choose?"

Low, a student at Princess Anne Middle School, exemplifies the idea behind the 61st annual Tidewater Science and Engineering Fair - ask a question, find an answer.

About 260 projects were displayed in the Webb Center at Old Dominion University, vying for awards and prize money at the regional level. The top winners in the senior division are eligible for the International Science and Engineering Fair. In addition, there were category winners plus more than 30 special awards from groups such as the American Helicopter Society and the Association for Women Geoscientists.

Projects ranged from the esoteric - "Monitoring the Folding Process of the B1 Domain of the Streptococcal Protein G" (by Amanda Cortinas of Ocean Lakes High School) - to the more understandable - "The Effect of Training Cats Using the Same Techniques Used to Train a Dog," (by Nick West of Kemps Landing Magnet School).

"This is using the scientific method to develop an idea, a question that needs an answer," said Dell Young, executive director of Tidewater Science Congress Inc., the nonprofit behind the fair. "Many of these kids are self-motivated. They're doing it on their own."

That's because many school districts no longer have science fairs, she said.

About 80 judges from professional settings - NASA, engineering firms, universities, the military, etc. - spent several hours evaluating projects and interviewing students.

"Daunting," said one judge, walking past displays of microbiology, computer science, animal science, math and more.

"I was blown away," said another.