SCIENCE FAIR: HUNDREDS OF EXHIBITS TO BE ON DISPLAY THIS WEEK

Students are putting the finishing touches on their exhibits for the 43rd annual Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair.

The fair opens Tuesday at the Show Me Center.

Lester Leaton, science fair director, estimated there will be 200 entries in the junior division and 60 entries in the senior division. Students from throughout Southeast Missouri enter their projects in the competition.

The two top winners of this Regional Science Fair advance to the 43rd annual International Science and Engineering Fair in Nashville, Tenn., May 10-16. Students win an expense-paid trip to the competition.

In conjunction with the science fair, Oak Ridge astronaut Linda Godwin will present the E.L. Bahn Memorial Lecture Wednesday at the Show Me Center. A reception is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. and the lecture begins at 7:30. She will talk about her flight in space. The lecture is open to the public.

Godwin will also speak to students Tuesday afternoon while the projects are being judged.

Leaton said that on Tuesday participating teachers will meet to share ideas about science projects that work and don't work in the classroom.

The exhibits on display represent months of research and preparation, Leaton said. Students cannot put together a competitive project in a few weeks.

"The quality of the projects that win are getting better and better," Leaton said. "You can't just throw together a science project.

"For those students who really do well, they will start a year or so in advance of the fair," he said. "One girl's project is the result of a three-year study."

Leaton said fair organizers have watched school budget cuts with interest. Some schools have cut money to fund science projects while others schools have placed the science fair on a "protected" list. Despite tight budget times, Leaton said he is pleased with the number of entries this year; especially the junior fair, for students in grades seven and eight, has drawn a lot of interest.

Leaton said the junior fair has proven very successful in the past few years. Not all Regional Science Fairs offer junior competitions.

"That's what is stimulating a lot of enthusiasm," he said. "Many of the seventh and eighth grades participate."

Many students who are participating in the regional fair have already competed in local fairs at their schools, Leaton said.

Students will set up their exhibits at the Show Me Center Tuesday morning and judges will evaluate the projects in the afternoon.

Following judging, the fair exhibition will be open to the public.

The fair is also open to the public Wednesday from 9 a.m. to the start of the Bahn Lecture and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

An awards ceremony will be held Thursday. Students will know Tuesday the results from category judging, but a number of special awards and scholarships are announced Thursday.

The Science Fair is co-sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and the Southeast Missourian newspaper. A number of other businesses, industries and professional organizations support the fair.