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Four Tucson-area students have been named semifinalists in the Society for Science & the Public's 2008 Middle School Program.

Arizona has a total of seven nominees in the competition.

Peter Angeli, of Orange Grove Middle School; Megan Gleason, of St. Michael's Parish Day School; and Zac Bathen and Barnes Jannuzi, both of Doolen Middle School, were selected from nearly 2,000 students and 250 schools across the country for their science fair projects.

"It's very cool!" said Barnes, a seventh-grader who worked on his project with Zac, also a seventh-grader.

In their project, named "White Lightning for Grease Lightning or the Best Veggie for Your V6," the students grew and distilled different vegetables to see which would make the best fuel and which would grow the most productively.

"Corn is not the most effective," said Barnes, who tested about 10 vegetables with his partner. "In our first string of tests, onions had the highest alcohol percentage after fermentation. In our second test, sugar beets were the highest."

The other projects selected are "The Effect of Different Telescopes on the Accuracy of Measuring Moon Mountains," by Peter, who also is in seventh grade, and "What Is the Shape of Solar Heated Water in the Sonoran Desert?" by Megan, a sixth-grader.

Later this month, 30 of the 300 national semifinalists will be chosen to travel to Washington, D.C., to compete for more than $40,000 in scholarships.