Many Port Aransas youngsters will show off research projects they have created for Science Night, scheduled for tonight, Thursday, May 14.

The event will be from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. at the Port Aransas High School cafetorium. The public is invited.

The children created their projects as part of a program in which middle school and high school students have studied science not only with their teachers, but also with university graduate students.

It's part of the GK-12 program, an undertaking that involves graduate students from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. The graduate students have helped teach science at Brundrett Middle School and PAHS.

The program is funded by a $2 million National Science Foundation grant, which also pays for similar work with students in the Flour Bluff and Austin independent school districts.

The grant's main administrator is Ken Dunton, who is a UTMSI researcher and member of the Port Aransas Independent School District Board of Trustees.

Science Night will feature students from the science classes of BMS teacher Andrea Skloss and PAHS teacher Jill Smith. UTMSI graduate students involved in the science projects have been Chris Wilson and George Adams.

The keynote speaker will be PAHS senior Sarah Armanovs, who is conducting original ecological research under Dunton's direction. Her presentation is titled "Wallowing in the Marshes: The Natural vs. the Manmade."