From weather to water, salt to sand, teeth to tech; all matter of experiments are on display at the Aurora Otago Science and Technology Fair at Otago Museum.
Two hundred and sixty entries from 320 pupils around Otago were set up and scrutinised yesterday in readiness for public display from today.
Fair convener Stephen Sexton said when it came to judging, the competition was more about the process pupils went through rather than the results achieved.
''It's more 'what did they get out of it?' and a chance to show the end result,'' Mr Sexton said.
''I would highly recommend that the public come along to support the students and to witness these young scientists test the boundaries [of] creativity and innovation.''
A weather station entry put together by CJ Barnes (12), of Balmacewen Intermediate, was one of the more elaborate projects.
Ten weeks in the making, it measured wind speed and direction as well as rainfall.
CJ was ''really hoping'' he got a prize for his efforts.
Kate Bryant (12), also of Balmacewen Intermediate, put forward an entry on tooth decay in which she sourced real teeth from the University of Otago's School of Dentistry.
She really enjoyed ''putting all the teeth in [different liquid solutions] and seeing all the results''.
Another experiment sought to find out why there was so much flooding in South Dunedin in June.
Tahuna Intermediate pupils Maggie Gorman (12) and Grace Corbett (13) collected soil samples to see why the water did not drain well during the heavy rains.
The display runs from today through to Friday at the museum's Hutton Theatre and a prizegiving will be held on Sunday, August 9, at the University of Otago's St David lecture theatre.
