More than 200 Martha’s Vineyard high school students were winners this past weekend at the 12th annual high school science fair. Though prizes were awarded only for the top exhibitors, every student walked away knowing science can be both fun and rewarding.

The school cafeteria was overflowing with exhibitors. The school library was full too. The projects ranged from devising new ways to do things to trying to understand the behavior of an animal that resides underwater. There were projects that involved the use of wind, water and fire. And there were at least a couple of projects devoted to listening, for example playing classical or pop music for plants grown from seed. For those who attended the last hour of the fair it was as tight as the bleachers at a home football game.

Kent Leonard, a sophomore, got a lot of attention for devoting most of his poster space to the word “Rust.” The sophomore studied both the cause and the effect of rust.

The grand prize winner, William Trapp of Edgartown, made a huge project, the biggest on the campus, out of studying ways to project a two pound bocce ball through space. He built an 18-foot tall catapult which he called Castle Defender and had to be exhibited outside.

For two months after school, when the weather was favorable, he tweaked the device, making adjustments in the way the catapult spun the ball. Through trial and error, over 60 shots in total, done in a vacant field at the high school, Mr. Trapp was able to get the device to send the ball 200.2 feet. Even more importantly, he could explain why.

His project included math, physics and a lot of trips back and forth between the school and home. He gave credit to his mother, Bonnie, a math teacher at the Edgartown elementary school, for helping with the many rides.

Among the wandering naturalists at the science fair the favorite was Eva Faber’s winning biology project she undertook last summer out in the Edgartown and Tisbury Great Ponds. Her project was called Blue Claw Crab Behavior on Martha’s Vineyard. Miss Faber, a junior, went out on the ponds and evaluated the crabs caught in several traps. She noted the sex and size of the animals and put together notes about the behavior of the animals. Her topic was timely: Last summer there was a huge abundance of crabs in both ponds.

Senior Rachel Pires took the familiar design of the pinwheel and attached it to an electricity-making generator and created about a half watt of electricity. Cape Wind might be wise to consult the budding wind expert.

Other students were also interested in wind power. Working alone and in teams, members of Dana Munn’s physics class built 28 wind turbines and tested their performance in a 10-mile-per-hour wind tunnel. Mr. Munn created the wind tunnel just for the project. Miss Pires’ wind turbine did well, but the winners of the design competition were Liam Wallace and Riley Donegan.

Noelle Nelson, a junior, utilized the family outdoor grill and a cigarette lighter for her project called The Flammability of Household Fabrics. “Nylon is the most dangerous,” she said. Evidently it melts. Looking for something safer? She said wool hardly burned at all.

Sammi Chaves and Megan Mendenhall’s exhibit on popcorn was the most popular among students. Their goal was to determine which store-bought popcorn brand produces the most kernels. It meant a lot of counting. They said the product Pop Secret was the worst when it came to producing popped kernels. “Natural popcorn did better than artificially flavored popcorn,” Miss Chaves said.

Ms. Chaves added that their study turned out to be inconclusive so they plan to continue their investigative work through the coming summer.

John Alaimo, an Island piano player, spent a lot of time Saturday morning at Mia Benedetto’s exhibit entitled Correlation Between Key and Type of Song.

In looking at a lot of popular songs, Miss Benedetto, a junior, concluded that if you are looking to write a sad song you should put it in a minor key. For her efforts, she earned The Science of Art award.

School principal Stephen G. Nixon and school superintendent James Weiss took their time walking through the room. There were teachers throughout too.

Mr. Nixon said he has watched the science fair grow from year to year. He found it uplifting to see what the students came up with in their efforts. “It boggles the mind to see what they can do,” he said.

While many were jubilant about the success of this year’s fair, a number of parents reported that they had just read a New York Times article, published on Feb. 4, citing that science fairs were in decline across the country.

While presenting the awards, science fair coordinator Jackie Hermann credited teachers Dana and Natalie Munn of Tisbury for having started the science fair with 45 participants in 2000. “I consider them to be the founders of the science fair,” Ms. Hermann said.

Winning projects will represent the Island at the South Shore Regional Science Fair at Bridgewater State College on Saturday, March 12. Winners from that fair attend the State Fair at MIT in May.

Award Winners:

Dr. James Porter Grand Prize award: (1) William Trapp, Castle Defender; (2) Charlotte Hall, Hydrogen – Fuel of the Future; (3) Nathaniel Horwitz, Are Your Cleaning Habits Poisoning the Environment.

Engineering Design awards: (1) William Trapp, Castle Defender; (2) Brad Anastacio, Awesome Hydrogen Car; (3) Katharine Johnson, Caffeinated Contraption.

Wind Turbine Engineering awards: (1) Liam Wallace and Riley Donegan; (2) Jesse Thomas and Cal Fiore; (3) Emily Lowe.

Team Projects (grade 10): (1) Charles Pikor and Charlie Ashmun, Heating Up the Atmosphere; (2) Skylah Forend and Dana Jacobs, Keep the Algae Away!; (3) Olivia DeGeoffroy and Zack Bernard, When Dimples Fly.

Team Projects (grade 9): (1) Sawyer Klebs and Sam Permar, Radiation Fog . . . It Doesn’t Cause Leukemia; (2) Mary Ollen and Katherine Dorr, Orange You Glad I Didn’t Say Banana; (3) Sophia Nelson and Sarah Dawson, You Can Make Your Cake And Eat It Too!

Category Winners. Biology: (1), Eva Faber, Blue Claw Crabs In Martha’s Vineyard Great Ponds; (2) Alyssa Adler, Rehydrate, Recycle, Reuse, Ready, Set, Go!; (3) Barra Peak, The Effects of Salt and Vinegar On Lettuce Spoilage. Chemistry: (1) Isabel Smith, Mercury Levels in Modern Sodas; (2) Taylor McNeely, Fire Retardant Paint; (3) Lily Bick, Curdling Milk. Physics: Two first place winners, Michael Montanile, Papergy, and Justin Smith, How Golf Balls Bounce; (2) Oliver Filley, Hydrodynamics: Performance of Boat Hulls; Two third place winners, Dylan Brockmeyer, Connect the Fruits, and David Seidman, Don’t Worry! It’s Soundproof! Environmental Science: (1) Charlotte Hall, Hydrogen - The Fuel of the Future; (2) Nathaniel Horwitz, Are Your Cleaning Habits Poisoning the Environment; (3) Ben Lukowitz: Capillarity of Soil.

Special topic awards. Cape Light Compact Award for an energy-related project: Amy Fligor, Plugging Into the Sun and Maya Harcourt, French Fry Fuel. The David Brand Award for an outstanding earth science project: Taylor Gramkowski, Is the Earth Experiencing Polarity Reversal? Friends of Sengekontacket Award for project on water quality or salt marsh ecology: Nathaniel Horwitz, Are Your Cleaning Habits Poisoning the Environment? Island Grown Initiative Award for a project that focuses on agricultural systems and techniques that support biodiversity or address traditional or historic Island agriculture: Ashley Plante, Is Manure Tea Good for Me? Lagoon Pond Award for a project that addresses a water quality issue with application to the protection of water resources on Martha’s Vineyard: Luke Sudarsky, Pollution In Our Drinking Water. Marine and Paleobiological Research Institute Award for an outstanding marine or coastal science project that might include any aspect of science, fishing, engineering or conservation: Charlotte McCarron, Got Nitrogen? Martha’s Vineyard Surfcasters Association Award for a project that focuses on increasing the awareness and understanding of aspects of our marine environment - in memory of Charlie Barr: Eva Faber, Blue Claw Crabs In Martha’s Vineyard Great Ponds.

Sustainability Awards. These awards are presented to the top male and female projects that involve the recycling or reuse of materials for a new purpose or one that involve methods of reducing energy or materials consumption. They are sponsored by the Munn Family. Antone Lima, Methane Digester and Katie Johnson, Caffeinated Contraption.

The Science of Art Award for the project that involves the evaluation of materials used in creative expression: Mia Benedetto, Correlation Between Key and Type of Song.