Remember your school science fair? Where the coolest project was the volcano that spewed fake lava? Well these days, science fairs are a bit more involved. YourTV20 took a tour of the Synopsis Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship in San Jose and found a bunch of great ideas.

Take Frederic Enea’s copper coated solar panel project, which he says has improved solar powered efficiency by twenty four percent. When asked what his parents thought of the idea, Enea, a Harker School student in San Jose said, “They think it’s an interesting idea. Plus, they want to get it patented and then cover the house in copper.”

Another project getting lots of attention was Mason Ivy’s vegetation protection system. It’s a solar powered device which sprays water, and uses sound to protect lawns. Ivy, from Milpitas Christian, explained, “It is energy independent and self sufficient, meaning you don’t have to plug it in or replace the battery. You can protect against deer, rabbits or animals that want to eat your flowers or any vegetables that you’re growing.”

Not all the projects were about protecting the environment. Take for example, the Go-Cone, by Kendra Glenn of Holy Family in San Jose. “I noticed sometimes I would watch people eat ice cream, and it would always fall off or drip,” Glenn said. “And I wanted to create a cone that would prevent that.” So Glenn designed a drip free cone. When asked how much ice cream she had to eat to perfect her design, she would only concede that it was, “a lot.”