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Did you know that sunglasses from a local dollar store can be effective in preventing ultraviolet rays from hurting your eyes?

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Edna Williston photos

Grade 5 student Jacob Smith, 11, examines samples of cholesterol through a microscope. Jacob’s project was called, “Got Milk — what do you, grab white or chocolate?” Jacob said the idea for his project came to him during a tour of Northumberland Dairy. His conclusion? Sixtyeight per cent would rather drink chocolate milk.

Harkins Middle school Grade 7 student Mitchell-Jay Keating won second-place for “The best bounce for your buck.”

Marie-Louise Squire evaluates student presentations.

Eleven-year-old Patrick Manderson chose to compare the effects of salt or sand on ice. He said he found it interesting to discover for himself that salt was much more effective in melting ice.

According to students at a District 16 science fair, generic dollar sunglasses came in second to a well known and more expensive brand.

Whitney Shannon and Alex White, two Grade 8 students from Harkins Middle School presented their conclusions about sunglasses during the fair, which was held March 18-19 at Dr. Losier Middle School.

The two took first-place honours in the Junior Science Fair category.

They were two of many students in grades 6-12 who participated in the annual event.

Shannon said she and White compared dollar sunglasses, $200 sunglasses and prescription sunglasses.

"Completing the research and finding the results was interesting. We discovered the dollar sunglasses were just as good or better at preventing UVA rays than other more expensive models," said Shannon.

Fair coordinator Marie-Louise Squire said the two-day event was a great success, with students putting lots of work into a variety of projects.

"Evaluating and selecting the winners from the many experiments presented was a difficult task. Everyone who participated in the science fair came away having learned a great deal," she said.

Prior to the fair, several of the students presented their projects during a science symposium on March 17 that featured keynote speaker Dr. Robert Hawkes, a well known award winning scientist and professor at the faculty of physics at Mount Allison University.

Winners in the junior, intermediate and senior science fair categories will travel to the regional competitions schedulled for April in Bathurst. Regional winners will participate in national competitions in Ottawa in May.

And the winners are ...

Senior Science Fair (grades 11-12)

• 1st: Nathan King — Miramichi Valley High School.

• 2nd: Kathleen McCord — MVHS.

Intermediate Science Fair (grades 9-10)

• 1st: Nadine Pesch, Nick Tremblay, Miranda Carter, Sara Hayward and Erika Drisdale — James M. Hill Memorial High School.

• 2nd: Justin Lawson, Jacob Wilson, Kris Bowman and A.J. Doyle — Bonar Law Memorial high School.

• 3rd: Daniel Cassidy and Casey Donovan — MVHS.

• Runners up: Kelsey Carroll and Maggie Bowes; Samantha MacDonald; Markedah Whyte and Megan Majcher; Matthew Sherrard — all of MVHS.

Junior Science Fair (grades 6-8)

• 1st: Alex White and Whitney Shannon — Harkins Middle School.

• 2nd: Mitchell Jay-Keating — Harkins Middle School.

• 3rd: Alex Loggie, Jenna Remond, Tyson McKeeg and Neha Siddhartha — Dr. Losier Middle School.

• Runners up: Sarah Lynch and Megan Lynch; Tyler Young, Corey Larsen, Josh Hosopple and John Scheele.