Tuktoyaktuk (June 02/03) - Not often do you hear of two young students receiving national recognition for making noise.

Tuktoyaktuk cousins Travis and Ryland Anderson -- both Grade 7 students at Mangilaluk school -- stood out ahead of almost 500 young amateur scientists recently at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Calgary.

The boys received honourable mentions for their science project "Edison's Reproducer," that they put together with materials most would throw out to the trash.

Travis and Ryland decided on this particular project after viewing a model of Edison's Reproducer in a science book.

With the help of teacher Sharon Dyck, they embarked on a scavenger hunt around their homes in search of the perfect materials to make their very own sound box.

After experimenting with several materials, the boys settled on match boxes, a needle and juice cans. They then connected them to an old record player, and voila! They had their very own set of homemade speakers.

Judges at the national science fair were quite impressed with the Anderson cousins' contraption.

"They (the judges) asked lots of questions and we couldn't answer a few, but we got most of them," said Tyler.

Ryland said he and his cousin had tons of fun in Calgary, but they were up against some stiff competition.

"It was pretty cool," he said.

Even though there is a lack of research resources in Tuktoyaktuk, Tyler and Ryland made an outstanding effort and figured things out on their own, Dyck said.

"They had great fun experimenting with various kinds of materials to create a sound box. There certainly were some suggestions, but they went above and beyond that," she said.

The Anderson kids are outstanding students and he is very proud of their accomplishment, said principal Steve Moseychuck.

"Putting it all together and coming up with a replica of the real thing was very impressive," he said.

Tyler and Ryland's success has been an inspiration to all other students at Mangilaluk school, Dyck said.

"By just seeing what kinds of rewards can come out of hard work and focus, I think they certainly are role models for the others," she said.