Student ingenuity on show at NIWA Wellington Science Fair   24 Aug 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2016

Student ingenuity on show at NIWA Wellington Science Fair

Science students from around the Wellington region are putting their ingenuity and analytical skills on the line at this week’s annual NIWA Wellington Regional Science and Technology Fair.
More than 385 entries have been received from about 500 students representing about 40 schools around the region, including Wellington, Upper Hutt and Paremata.

This year the student with the best project from Years 11-13 will receive the Victoria University Innovation Prize which is $4000 towards fees in the first year of a Victoria University undergraduate degree in science or engineering.

The Victoria University Science Faculty Prize (for the best project from Years 7-10) is an iPad or similar while the Royal Society awards $1000 for an outstanding project taking into account the year level of the exhibitor.

The organisers also expect to award an additional $12,000 in class prizes and special prizes.

Among the projects entered this year include:
• Rat-a-tat-trap: a self-setting rat trap.
• Plantbiotics: antibiotic properties of plants.
• Falling Safely: testing different fabrics and different shapes of parachutes to see which takes the longest and will give the safest landing.
• Classroom Cacophony: Are modern learning environments damaging children’s hearing?
• Coffee ground briquettes vs sawdust and paper briquettes: Investigating the effectiveness of coffee grounds as briquettes.

NIWA atmospheric scientist Sylvia Nichol said the calibre of the exhibits was particularly high this year with entrants having already taken part in tough school competitions to make it through to the regional fair.

“The judges know there are some extremely innovative ideas that have real potential. The enthusiasm the students show for science is very promising for the future.”

The NIWA Wellington Regional Science and Technology Fair is open to the public on Friday, September 2 from 9am-4.30pm and Saturday, September 3 from 9am to noon in the Alan MacDiamid Building, Victoria University, Wellington. Entry is free.

NIWA wishes all students entering the fair the very best of luck. NIWA is also a major sponsor of the Auckland, Manukau, Bay of Plenty, and Wellington Science and Technology Fairs.

For more information see: www.sciencefair.org.nz

Add a comment