There was the potato battery, the waist size experiment and a lava lamp how-to. But the big hit at the Vancouver Island Science Fair held at the University of Victoria was a working hovercraft.

Built by 脡cole Victor-Brodeur Grade 6 students Jacob Gronnestad and Maximillian Sonier, the one-metre wide duct-taped cardboard disc hooked up to a shop vac prompted a lineup of kids and adults waiting for a ride.

B次元官网网址淩ed Green would be proud,B次元官网网址� said one man watching from the sidelines as the boys showed off their project which worked very well transporting visitors three metres across the hallway floor of the Elliott building where the fair was held.

It was a record year for science fair organizers with 220 students from Vancouver Island elementary, middle and secondary schools attending the two-day event on April 14 and 15. The Society for the Advancement of Young Scientists, organizers of the fair, president Randy Enkin said in the past when thereB次元官网网址檚 been a teachersB次元官网网址� strike attendance has dropped below 100. B次元官网网址淚t took us five years to get back to 150,B次元官网网址� said Enkin whoB次元官网网址檚 been president for 12 years. He credits the popularity of TV shows such as Mythbusters for prompting kidsB次元官网网址� renewed interest in science.

B次元官网网址淭he science fair really gives them a place to workshop their ideas, to figure out where their interests are, and to make them young scientists so they can go further,B次元官网网址� said Enkin, whose own two sons took part in science fairs and are now studying science at university.

Gronnestad and Sonier first purchased a small model of the hovercraft from a downtown science store but then decided to build a larger version with a design they found on the Internet.

B次元官网网址淲e like it because it floats, itB次元官网网址檚 good transport, and itB次元官网网址檚 cool,B次元官网网址� said Gronnestad.