Melissa Cantillo, Vanessa Butin, Yvette Butac and Samantha Jeet knew nothing about the subject until they started work on the project last year as ninth-graders. They decided to do the project after watching a video presentation on the USS Arizona by a Mainland student group visiting Moanalua High and determined no modified cleanup effort of leaking oil was being done.

"All we knew was that oil has been leaking for a long time and something should be done," said Vanessa, 15, a Waipahu resident.

The method the girls used in their model is called "tenting."

Using a fish tank, plastic bottles and other household items, the girls identified materials that could be safely used to absorb the oil, the Army said. Project CHO51 designed a potential solution that would remove the oil before it could spread and harm marine life.

From their research, the girls determined that oil leaks from holes in the skin of the ship that are about the size of an orange.

"Because oil floats to the top, we have a tent or canopy on top of where it's leaking," said Melissa, 15, who is from 'Ewa Beach. "There's a tube that leads from the canopy to the top into a collection area."

The girls started the project in December 2003 and had to submit it for competition in March 2004.

"We researched certain points of the ship and learned that two or three quarts were leaking from it per day," Melissa said. "The ship is like a cemetery so you can't do something (to capture oil) that would disturb it. The military has a plan in case something happens (to the ship) and all the oil comes out."

An estimated 500,000 gallons of fuel oil remain in the wreckage of the ship.

The girls' project was not about a catastrophic situation where the rotting ship breaks apart and all of the oil is released, but to find a way to capture the oil that is slowly leaking from the ship day by day.

After placing first in their region, the girls spent last summer doing research to fine-tune the project for the national finals. They visited the USS Arizona Memorial many times over the summer to gather more information and detail.

And why is it called "Project CHO51?" CHO is carbon, hydrogen and oxygen or oil, the girls said. Giggling, they added that 51 has no meaning, it was just a number that sounded good.

Melissa, Vanessa, Yvette, who is from Kalihi, and Samantha, now attending school on the Mainland, hardly fit the stereotypical whiz-kid image. Their science teacher, Theresa Nishite, describes them as "ordinary students."

Nishite and another science teacher, Lynn Sueoka, coordinated the projects at Moanalua. The girls were granted out-of-district exceptions to attend Moanalua High for its specialized media and communication program. Van Hale, the program coordinator, said the students were able to combine language arts, social studies and science with media and communication to make the project a success.

"It was one project that touched a lot of different subjects," Hale said.

The girls were each awarded a $3,000 saving bond for winning their region and an additional $3,500 bond for being finalists. They flew to Washington, D.C., with Nishite in June for the award presentations.

Melissa is interested in pursing a career in graphic art, and her work on the project's display board is outstanding. Among the other students here, Yvette wants to be a photographer and Vanessa is undecided.

Nishite said five other teams made up of three or four students each from Moanalua High submitted projects and four of them placed in the Southwest/Pacific Region. Members from the three other teams that placed each received a $2,000 savings bond. Moanalua submitted entries for the first time and was the only school from Hawai'i in the competition.

The competition is open to students in grades 6 through 9. The project requires students to identify problems in their community related to health and safety, arts and entertainment, sports and recreation, or the environment.

For more information, visit www.ecybermission.com.