president obama joking with mesh s next generation of scientists, engineer, and inventors at the white house for the annual science fair today. more than 100 students from over 30 states were on hand to show off their science projects like 18-year-old alana simon of new york city. after surviving liver cancer at the age of 12, she gathered new cancer research. and 12-year-old peyton robertson of florida, who created the newest innovation for training wheels that are just on the go. the president joked he may be able to use a pair himself. and the youngest scientist came from oklahoma. a group of second grade girl scouts designed a 3d model of a flood-proof bridge that allows responders to pass through. lydia and john from chicago made
it s unacceptable to me not just as first lady but as a mother. this is what i tell myself in 10 or 20 years i don t want to look back with regret and think that we gave up on our kids because we felt like this thing was too hard or too expensive. we owe our kids way more than that. we owe our kids more than that, and we do. one-third of kids in this country are overweight or obese. one-third. so what s the gop solution? republicans are pushing a bill that would allow schools to opt out of guidelines passed in 2010, guidelines that reduce sodium in school lunches and increase whole grain foods, fresh fruits and vegetables. so now republicans have become the party of promoting healthier kids? it makes. no sense. and the explanations are pretty tough to swallow. i have not talked to industry about this. i don t know if they have contacted your office about it. but it on my side i ve not heard from them. i m hearing from the lunch ladies. kids are saying, you know what
believe it or not, america s top young scientist is just 11 years old but has already lived through some frightening hurricanes. one in particular, inspired him to build a better mouse trap. a sandbag that doesn t have any sand. abc s matt gutman got a demonstration. reporter: peyton robertson has the enthusiasm of an infomerical king. here he is in his audition tape for this year s young scientist contest and the ingenuity of edison. i created a prototype. reporter: the 11-year-old from ft. lauderdale and his family huddled in a closet as hurricane wilma ripped over in 2005 watching as the storm brought flooding damage and death. peyton who s been solving math problems since he was 3 set off to solve a problem by himself. you want to start with the science room i set up upstairs. reporter: yes. okay. reporter: his invention a sandless sandbag. i use salt in my bag. so it would be heavier than any approaching water.
any idea what he is saying. no. here s the translation, regular sandbags are heavy, peyton s are lighter making them easier to carry because they are filled with chemicals and salt and only expand when doused with water and less water gets through the cracks. when you add it to water it expands. whoa. reporter: like any scientist, peyton knows that field tests are a must. i m safe behind your barrier here. reporter: engineers say peyton s invention is a real deal. he would be a fantastic student here at um. reporter: until then, peyton will keep tinkering. matt gutman, abc news, ft. lauderdale. i have accomplished nothing in my life. compared to someone like him. brilliant idea. now all of these areas that flood in the big storms he could make a fortune selling them to governments. we have all seen them lugging 40-pound sandbags and four pounds each. he won 25 grand and a trip to
welcome back. they may be yuck, but their inventions are helping to make the world a better place. ten young finalists competed each vying to be named this year s top young scientist. the 2013 top young scientist is peyton robertson. [ applause ] and peyton is here, along with the second place and third place winners. we have peyton and brooke and sirjay. they re all here. welcome to the show, first of all. thank you. peyton, you won it all, $25,000? yes, sir. it s a lot of money. i ll did i have netly save it for college. not buying a car? i m not old enough for that.