While Cassie no doubt had some parental supervision during her experiment, Science-o-rama participants are required to do the work themselves so they gain an understanding of scientific method. But parents were out in force at a Feb. 3 family viewing, where 162 students had science projects on display in the Los Alamitos cafeteria.

Participation in Science-o-rama is voluntary and open to students at all grade levels, but most entries came from first- and third-graders. Los Alamitos science coordinator Tracey Ananmalay attributed the lack of older student participation in part to the fact that fifth-graders had already been involved in a mandatory science fair earlier in the school year.

"We really encourage kids in the younger grades to do an actual experiment as opposed to research," Ananmalay said. "They can wrap their heads around a controlled experiment. It's a chance to put the scientific method into practice."

Some students had difficulty coming up with a hypothesis to test, so last month Ananmalay and a small army of parent volunteers visited classrooms and provided guidelines for possible experiments. This led to a rash of projects involving testing random objects for buoyancy.

First-grader Theresa Welebob was among those who dropped things in water to see if they'd float. She said she was attracted to the experiment because "I have fun in the bathtub."

Some projects suggested that Los Alamitos is a hotbed of chemists-in-training. Second-grader Jamie Landrum tested a variety of liquids to find out whether they were acids or bases, while third-grader Jessica Swenson investigated the properties of milk and concluded that it's a colloid, since it surrounds other liquids that are dropped into it and doesn't let them disperse.

Other students used the science fair to further their knowledge of current events. Jeremy Miessa and brothers Rish and Kanish Sudhir-Arhani collaborated on a project about NASA's Mars Rovers. Fourth-grader Rish said their research didn't turn up any solid evidence that the red planet ever supported life.

"They've found atoms of water but no water yet," he explained.

Unlike projects at other science fairs, Science-o-rama projects aren't judged, and all participants are awarded certificates.

"It's important that every child be recognized for their work," Ananmalay said. "Parents are more liable to be hands-on if the goal is first place. We're not trying to get kids to compete against each other but to do their personal best."