9 Awards at NIWA Science Fair

Our College students performed well across categories with a total of 9 awards including a First place position in the Senior Science category at this year’s NIWA South & East Auckland Science and Technology Fair.

Our College Year 7 students worked on their Science Fair projects in Term 2 and the start of Term 3. The top projects in each class were subsequently selected to compete in the College Science Fair organized by Ms Catherine May. These projects were judged by teachers from all of the departments within the Science Faculty. The top projects from the school were awarded prizes and nominated to represent the school in the NIWA Regional Fair. Students from Years 8 to 13 can represent the College by joining the co-curricular Science Fair Club, with guidance from Ms Ruby Huang.

This year’s South and East Auckland region Science Fair was held at Mission Heights Junior College. 20 science and engineering experts from the University of Auckland, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare and several industry representatives interviewed students, looked over their work and judged the categories and special awards.

We hosted this years’ Regional Fair Prizegiving ceremony and it was our privilege to celebrate the achievements of our youngest scientists from across South and East Auckland.

The prizegiving opened to the sounds of our Middle School Pipes and Drums band. Our Senior Te Reo Māori students, with support from Mr Martin and Whaea Ms Jasmine Martin, welcomed all guests with a powerful and moving pōwhiri. Guest speaker, Isla Christensen, from 'Nanogirl' was present to share the adventures of Science with some fiery experiments. Mr Dion Cowley from Saint Kentigern College's Science Faculty was the Master of Ceremony, with support from Miss Catherine Hunter of Mission Height Junior College. They called the award winners and the sponsors for each category of the competition, up on stage. Year 13 musician Tommy David performed a polished piano piece during the musical interlude before guests moved on to refreshments while viewing and having a dialogue with top winners who have their projects on display.

We would like to congratulate the following students for their solid achievements at this years’ NIWA Science Fair winners:

• Alexandra Doull created the project, Worrisome Winds. This project investigated the effect of the side of vehicles in determining stability when there is a cross wind. Alexandra was awarded second place in the category of Year 7 and 8 Physical and Material world
• Nelsen Miller created the project, Energy and Basketball: The gravity game. Nelsen investigated how different surfaces influence the energy lost in the bounce of the ball. Nelsen was awarded third place in Year 7 to 8 Physical and Material World.
• Beau Dowling investigated how homemade butter compares with various store brought butters when used in home baking. His project, Beau's Butter Batter Matter, was awarded 3 prizes. Highly Commended in the category of Consumer Science. The Manukau Institute of Technology best project by a Pasifica Student. He was also awarded the Baking Industry Research Trust's best use of flour award.
• Wilmer Zhang was part of the SKC Science Fair Club. Wilbers project was exactly as his title stated: Filtering the Facts, what's the best way to filter water. His project was awarded a Highly Commended in the Category, Environmental Science.
• Ivy Wang and Sean Wang were also members of the SKC Science Fair Club. Their project, Super Peatential, investigated the impact that electric potential had on mitotic cell growth in the root tips of pea plants. The judges were impressed with the depth of research and the high-level statistical analysis. For their project they were awarded First Place in the category of Senior Science. They were also awarded the Institute of Engineering and Technology's Senior Innovation Award and the South and East Auckland Science Fairs top in Year 12 award for best innovation, invention or investigation.