SOUTHEAST MISSOURI REGIONAL SCIENCE FAIR OPENS TODAY

A mouse moved through a maze which Michael Remley used for his science fair project.

Greg Miller studied the benefits of beef for his science fair project.

Today's science enthusiasts are more likely to have colored tresses than white hair, and they prefer jeans and athletic shoes to white coats and loafers. Some things never change, however, like they're creativity and curiosity about anything scientific.

The 41st annual Southeast Missouri Regional Science Fair begins today, and nearly 300 future scientists and enthusiasts have entered projects from 27 regional schools. The fair will run through Thursday at the Holiday Inn Convention Center, where the projects will be available for public viewing today from 6 to 9 p.m., Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The fair has expanded during the past four years, said coordinator Ruth Hathaway, who has been associated with the fair in a number of roles since 1966. "There are some really good projects this year. From the junior division, there are some seventh-graders whose projects could probably beat some of the senior's projects."

Students in seventh and eighth grades compete in the junior division, while ninth through 12th-graders compete in the senior division. The students chose a project in one of 24 categories and followed written guidelines. They then created a display for their projects.

Students were encouraged to be creative in their approach to their experiments. Mark Barylski, a ninth-grader from Cape Girardeau Central Junior High School saw the science fair as a chance to improve his golf game. His experiment questioned whether temperature affects a golf ball's reactivity.

To test his hypothesis, he heated some balls, cooled others, and left a third group at room temperature. Afterwards he rolled them down an incline plane and measured how far they rebounded. The results: Golf balls react better when warm.

"I was just trying to get the most information I could to try and improve my game," Barylski said. "I'm not going to make anything for my balls; I'll just try to keep them warmer than it is outside."

Michael Remley, another Central Jr. High ninth-grader, has a zoology entry in the fair. His project questioned whether light affected learning time in mice. He kept five mice in a darkened room for 12 hours, and five other mice in a bright room, then placed them in a maze.

"Mice are nocturnal creatures, and the ones kept in the dark learned the maze quicker, and that proved my hypothesis." Remley said.

Hathaway said the science fair has undergone a number of changes since the first one in 1956. For example, this year ninth-graders were not given a choice of which division they competed in. Next year, a number of major changes will be made to lessen the amount of paperwork required, and it's possible that soon the number of entries from each school will be restricted.

"The science fair has been evolving since our first one," Hathaway said. "We are seeing a lot more interest in science in the number of students being involved in the fair. Right now, we really depend on teachers to help students with all of the paperwork and other requirements. Hopefully, the changes will make my life and the teachers' lives a lot easier."

The science fair is sponsored by the Southeast Missourian, Southeast Missouri State University, Environmental Analysis Systems, Drury Southwest and Hathaway Consulting. Winners will be chosen in each division and will advance to international competition in Louisville, Ky., May 9 through 16. All expenses for the winners and their teacher-escort will be paid by donations from the science fair sponsors for this trip.