After an invigorating three days of scientific expression where students from all over the island got the chance to share their love for the subject with other science enthusiasts, the closing ceremony for the annual School’s Science Fair was held on Friday March 26 at the Beausejour Cricket Grounds.
The 2010 National School Science and Technology Fair opened on Wednesday, March 24 went by the theme: “Building Global Bridges through Science and Technology.” By all indications, the event that saw the attendance of thousands of students from primary to tertiary level was incident free, according to Curriculum Officer for Natural Science in the Ministry of Education, Mottilal Singh.
In total, the island’s eight educational districts submitted 110 projects. Notably, district six was ahead in terms of project submission as 35 projects came from that district alone. District two followed closely with 20 projects.
There wasn’t one, but numerous winners at the awards ceremony held on Friday, as students competed under various categories according to their school level. The prize-giving started out with primary school students, in the Agriculture Science category. Third place went to Bexon Primary for their project had to do with extracting fuel from banana skin, while Augier primary came in second for theirs that was based on determining the effects of a school-based garden on students preference for vegetables. For their display students had come armed with the luscious fruits from their soil that complimented their display. Anglican primary came in first with their study on biodegradable banana plastic.
Environmental Science was up next and third place went to Vide Boutielle Primary’s “Tsunami Simulation on the Island of St Lucia.” Dennery was second with an easy to construct solar powered kids torch, followed closely by Ciceron Primary, who created a new brand of playground chalk that won them first place.
Richfond Combined was third in the primary school Science and Technology aspect with their project, “No Water, Lots of Water,” while Saltibus Combined came second with, “The Effect of Lime Juice on Stains.” Millet Secondary won first place in that category with their “Exo Washing Machine,” a washing machine powered by the use of an exercise bicycle.
In Home Economics, Morne du Don Combined was third with a study into food preservation methods using local foods, Blanchard Combined second with “Herbals teas and Remedy” while first place went to Pierrot Combined’s “Cocoa Fantasy” for their impeccable set up of varied home made cocoa products.
In the Lower Secondary Mathematics category, third place went to Gros Islet Secondary’s “How Smart Are You,” second to VFCSS’s “Vertical Height Calculator” and first to Ciceron’s “Geometry, the Spoken Word.”
First place in the Primary School’s Home Economics category went to Pierrot Combined’s “Cocoa Fantasy.”
For Science and Technology VFCSS Campus B was in third for “Smokey Mountain,” where students used smoke as a method of communication. VFCSS also held the second place spot in the same category for their “New Touch Cradle” that had to do with the law of motion. St Mary’s College was in first place with “Cyber Mobile.”
Agricultural Science was up next and VFCSS was in third place with DNA from Bananas. Ciceron Secondary’s “Agro processing The Cocoa Plant” came in second followed by Leon Hess Secondary with “Bio Char: A Reliable Soil Addiment.” The Environmental Science category started with VFCSS’s “Eco Home” in third place. Ciceron was second with a project based on using marketing tools to
promote environmental awareness, and SMC first with the “Power of Purple;” a project that had to do with testing for acidic alkaline, using cabbage.
In the Upper Secondary level, Agricultural Science, VFCSS was in third place with “Agriculture on the Move” and Entrepot Secondary second with “Hydroponics.” Babonneau Secondary won first place for their “Local Starter Ration for Boiler Birds.”
Marigot Secondary’s Home Hydro Station earned them third place in the Alternative energy field while Gros Islet Secondary’s Salt Water Battery was second. Choiseul Secondary’s Hydrogen Engine was number one, and one of the prizes for that category was an internship with one of the Fair’s sponsors Peter and Company.
VFCSS won both prizes in Biology. Their “Energy From Local Beans and Nuts” project came in second place while; “Lighting Up Photosynthesis” was first. VFCSS also won second place in Chemistry with “Clean Energy with Oxygen and Hydrogen,” while Entrepot Secondary came in first with “Micro Bial Fuel Cells.”
In the Environmental Science category, Castries Comprehensive Secondary School (CCSS) was in third place with “Alleviating Water Supply Through Under Ground Acquirers,” followed by St Joseph’s Convent Pure Hand Sanitizer, and another project by SJC in first place, Solar Still.
There was reason to celebrate for Vieux Fort Secondary School after the Fair. The school won numerous awards in various categories and students had their own impromptu victory affair!
For Physics/ IT, VFCSS won all three prizes, third place: “Hydro Power,” second: “Candle Powered Radio and third,” “Floating and Density.” The Mathematics category followed and VFCSS was in third with “Using Mathematics to Improve Sports.” CCSS was in second with “Using Videos to Improve Math,” while Bocage was first with “Quadratic Expression Vectors.” Home economics was not forgotten. In that area, third place went to Entrepot’s Re-Fashion, second to SJC for their Organic Lip-Gloss, and first place to SJC’s Red Gold, where students used sorrel to make various products. Award winning tertiary projects included “Steel Construction Strength,” “Centrifugal Forces Laboratory” and “Mineral Bath: The Elemental Solution to Dermatological Disorders,” all by students from the Sir Author Lewis Community College.
At the end of it all, the best-organized booth went to Tapion Primary and in the secondary school category, SJC. Best innovative project once again went to the Millet primary for their Exo Washing Machine. The school won the same prize in last year’s Science Fair. The best innovative project in lower secondary went to SMC: Cyber mobile, Upper Secondary, Choiseul Secondary: Be Recharged. On the tertiary level the award went to SALCC’s Centrifugal Forces.
