A combination of research ranging from a solar-powered speedboat to water distillation was seen at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fair Thursday morning in the lower level of the Sunshine Mall.

This year’s STEM fair asked students to apply the scientific method and their critical thinking skills to inform the public and judges about their experiments, the results, and their hypotheses upon conclusion.

According to Cheryl Willocks, the Department of Education’s Curriculum and Instruction director, “The STEM fair is a way for the students to exercise their creative minds."

"It’s a way of giving them the spotlight for being great innovators, inventors and engineers.”

St. Croix Superintendent Gary Malloy said he likes the idea of the scholars being involved in the STEM fair because it helps them illustrate great problem solving and critical thinking skills.

The mall was packed with 165 projects on rows of tables and a few on the walls. Parents and coaches were standing close by the kids, but gave them a little breathing room so the judges could evaluate the projects.

Todakie Bassue Sr. traveled from St. Thomas to see his son’s project, “Clean Water.”

“As a parent, it makes me feel proud to see him doing what he loves,” Bassue said. He said his kindergarten son, Todakie Jr., was a student attending Evelyn M. Williams School who loves science.

Eighth-grader Alex Charles of John H. Woodson Junior High School built a juicer out of recycled parts from an old dishwasher, pipes and brackets.

“I built a juicer by using a garbage door motor and recycled parts to see if it would generate enough power to produce pure sugar cane juice,” Charles said.

Besides facing some technical difficulties with the toughness of the sugarcane, Charles said he eventually got the long stalks crushed.

Sixth-grader Yousif Mustafa of Lew Muckle Elementary School did his STEM project on the similarities between a projector and the human eye. “I predicted that a projector works similar to the human eye because they both need light and have lens,” Mustafa said.

Eighth-grader Raneem Mustafa took a different route with her project “Organ Food.” She created a game. The 13-year-old matched vegetables to human organs.

She said the vegetable she chose for each organ was actually the nutrients needed for optimum health for that body part. Although it was a struggle finding the appropriate vegetable for each organ, Mustafa said she plans on continuing working on her project and finding more body parts.

I’shauna Ferdinand and Trenyce Swanson from Eulalie Rivera Elementary School did their project, “Minty Cool,” together. “We hypothesized that mint wouldn’t lower temperature,” Swanson said. “We thought the cooling effect was just a sensation.”

Alfredo Andrew Elementary School’s Marcus Sydney did his project on a solar-powered speedboat.

Seventh-grader Nayeli O’Shaughnessy’s project focused on the process of evaporation and how it could turn dirty water into fresh water.

At the close of the fair the judges were indecisive on one grand prizewinner and decided to give the award to siblings Michonde and Zion Delauney, both from Ricardo Richards Elementary School.

“I love science and I’m glad I won,” said 11-year-old Michonde Delauney. She also loves spelling and took part in the St. Croix district spelling bee in February.

Second-grader Zion Delauney said he likes science as well; his project was titled “Drink Responsibly.” The duo will share their grand prize trophy and both will receive a Kindle.

All of the winners received a trophy, plaque and certificate.