A record number of students from 25 Catholic schools --- with four winning first place awards --- competed at the eighth annual Los Angeles County Science Fair held April 16-18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Two students from St. Martin of Tours School won first place medals: Alexandra Reale, eighth grader, in the Behavioral Sciences category with her project titled "Under the Surface: Priming the Subconscious Brain," and sixth grader Thomas Yaeger in Applied Chemistry with "Electrolyte Madness."

Evan Bornemann, sixth grade, from Nativity School scored first in the Earth/Space Sciences category with "Air Bubble Breakwater." Christina Regan, seventh grader from American Martyrs School, won a first in Environmental Management with her project: "The Effects of Microwaved Water on Basil Plant Growth."

Seventh grader William Cabison, Our Mother of Good Counsel School, won second place in Chemistry with "Vitamin C Determination by Iodine Titration." Caroline Frost, St. Martin of Tours eighth grader, won second in Ecology with "Fighting Wildfires: It's an Uphill Battle," and also received the Darrell Smedley Award for the science project that most represents the idea of "I Did it Myself."

St. Martin of Tours seventh grader Faith Bryer-Ash won second in Physics category with "Third Headlight is No Fifth Wheel."

St. Anastasia School sixth graders won two second place medals: Christopher Weis, in Physics-Electricity & Magnetism with "Electric Motors are Everywhere," and Andrew Kalleghan, in the Math & Computer Sciences with "Why Knot? Experiments in Knot Formation."

Other second place winners included, Davis Waugh, sixth grader at American Martyrs School, for "Light Bulb Efficiency" in Product Sciences; Annemarie Kelleghan, 10th grader at Notre Dame Academy, in Earth/Space Sciences with "Breathing Ballona: An Analysis of Dissolved Oxygen and Density in Ballona Creek"; and Lauarine Shahmirian, eighth grader from Chaminade Middle School, for "Do Metallic Medical Implants Corrode in the Human Body?" in Applied Chemistry. She also received a Special Award from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers.

Third place awards went to five students: eighth graders Marie Plecha and Lisa Brehove, from St. John Fisher School, in Biochemistry and Physics, respectively. for "How Does Temperature Affect the Amount of Vitamin C in Citrus Fruit Juice?" and "The Speed of Sound"; eighth grader Catherine Haber, from St. Martin of Tours, in Behavioral Sciences for "Blonde Today, Brunette Tomorrow II: Is the Stereotype of Dumb Blondes Universal?"; Apollo Nestoras, St. Monica High School, in Chemistry with "Minimizing Surface Tension of Water"; and ninth grader Edward Kronfli, St. Francis High School, in Engineering Research with his project "Fight Fire with Sound?" Kronfli also received a Special Award from the Engineers' Council and the Naval Science Award.

Another 27 projects, from various Catholic schools, received honorable mention awards.

The Los Angeles County Science Fair is the oldest and longest running regional science fair in the nation. Approximately 135 student winners were selected to compete in the California State Science Fair May 19-20 at the California Science Center.