INUVIK - Imagine sitting on a giant air-hockey table, being pushed around like the floating puck.

That's the feeling of sitting on Bradley Felix and Morris Nogasak's "ultra simple hovercraft," which they brought to the Inuvik Regional Science Fair on Feb. 24.

Bradley Felix, 14, rides the "ultra simple hovercraft," as fellow builder Morris Nogasak holds the shop vac engine. The two Mangilaluk students brought their invention to Inuvik's Regional Science Fair, which was held Feb. 24 - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

Felix said the project was indeed quite simple, and didn't cost very much.

He said he and Nogasak read about hovercraft science on the Internet, and decided to build their own.

The resulting project -- which is shaped like a flat disk and sits one person -- was built with plywood, a shower curtain, a coffee can lid and a lot of duct tape.

It was powered by a shop vac engine, which blows air into the shower curtain "skirt" and lets the driver float on a cushion of air.

"It probably cost about $20," said Nogasak between rides.

"The only thing we bought was the shower curtain from Northern."

Felix added, "We tried it at Mangilaluk and it went across the gym."

On Feb. 24, as Nogasak and Felix took turns gliding around the smooth lobby of Samuel Hearne secondary school, they attracted a big crowd of kids.

Unfortunately, the shower curtain tore and their fun was grounded.

While the hovercraft might have been the loudest invention, the Science fair's first prize went to Tuk students Ryan Walker and Ryland Anderson, who went vegetarian for a month.

The 15 and 16-year-olds got blood tests at the local health centre and measured how their bodies changed from a meatless diet.

For starters, Walker said their cholesterol levels decreased and both students lost a bit of weight.

However, they also saw a short-turn dip in muscle-building creatine and blood iron.

"It would have stabilized if we'd kept going," Walker said, adding he's not usually vegetarian.

Another interesting project at the science fair was homemade glue by fellow Mangilaluk students Allen Hillier and James Pokiak.

"Our hypothesis is that the homemade glue will be stronger than the store-bought glue, because everything homemade is better, like homemade sweaters & bread," read the placard.

The project -- dubbed, "Sticky Science," won first place in the juniors' division.