The majority of the public might not spend a considerable amount of time wondering which antibacterial wipes are best suited for killing bacteria on the top of a soda can, or know that red oakwood coated with paint will sustain the least damage during a fire.

But Cullman County students presented projects on red oakwood, soda can bacteria, and hundreds of other experiments inside Tom Drake Coliseum Thursday, during the second day of the 12th annual countywide Science Fair. The middle school overall winners were Hanceville students Lance and Heather Kean. The Keans designed a team project for the fair.

The high school overall winner was Fairview student Sandy Talley.

Madison Washburn, a fourth-grader at Fairview Elementary, won first-place in the Elementary Earth and Space division for her study on why the sky is blue. She said the project took her more than a week to finish.

“I was trying to figure out why the sky is blue,” she said. “It’s blue because of the gases and color in the prism.”

Good Hope Elementary second-grader Drew Berry said he was inspired to study seatbelt safety for his science project after a severe car accident when he was 5 years old. If he hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt, he said he would have been thrown through the car window and could have died in the head-on collision.

Berry conducted his experiment using raw eggs, a plastic car and concrete blocks.

Hanceville Middle School student Zach Scott won the Superintendent’s Choice Award for his experiment determining whether water can penetrate the membrane of an egg. Scott said he had never won a science fair award before Thursday.

“It feels pretty good,” he said.

Other projects at the science fair were a study on different brands of frosted flakes called “Soggy Showdown” by Cold Springs High School student Mason Harris. Harris said in the project hypothesis, “I think Kellogg’s brand of cereal will stay crunchiest longer because they’re the most expensive and their slogan says they’re grrr-r-reat.”

Another project by Cold Springs High School student Brittany Lansford called “Peanut Power,” focused on which type of nut packs the most physical energy; and a team project by Fairview Middle School students Cory Hampton and Larson Howse called “Snooze or Loose” studied the affects of sleep deprivation on performance.

A project by Parkside student Danny Weaver called “No Bones About It,” proved the effect of calcium supplements.