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21 Awards For Boys’ School At NIWA Science Fair!

October 20, 2021 at 3:52 PM

Following on from the Boys’ School Science Symposium early in Term 3, a group of Year 7&8 boys were selected to present their science projects for judging at the NIWA Auckland Science and Technology Fair. For the second year running, Covid-19 restrictions required all participants to submit their projects digitally rather than in person, with interviews with the judges taking place via Zoom.

Once again, our boys excelled and dominated the competition, picking up two First Place positions, three Second Place and two Third Place in five of categories. We were delighted that 22 boys were recognised for their outstanding work, with eight of their projects singled out for Special Prizes and a further six projects marked highly commended!

Raymond Mallin was awarded First Place in the Technology category with his project, ‘Autumn’s Gold.’ Raymond had investigated using dried, fallen oak leaves, combined with natural products to make an efficient and effective fire starter.  He found that combining natural beeswax with ground leaves produced a more effective fire starter than commercially available options.

In the Physical World category, Tom McCulloch was also awarded First Place for ‘Breaking Bridges.’ Tom set out to find which truss bridge design could bear the most weight concluding that the 'K-truss' bridge design held the most weight on average.

Second placed Nelson Meachem (Is Fulller Faster, Physical World) experimented with fuller or flattened sails to determine which sailed best in moderate conditions. Also Second, Liam Dowling (Greased Lightning, Physical World) investigated which boat bow shapes are the fastest, discovering the dish washing liquid was an effective propellent on his models. George McGuiness (To mulch or not to mulch, Living World) earned Second Place researching which recyclable mulch material retained most water.

Third Placed George Hill (The power of nuts, Material World) investigated which nuts produce the most energy (hazelnuts and brazil nuts), whilst fellow Third Placed student, James Murphey (Stress Test, Human Behaviour) tested whether physical stress or mental stress has a greater effect on heart rates.

As always there was a diverse range of imaginative projects displayed for the judges to ponder but the winning projects were selected on the basis of their rigour to carry out repeated scientific measurements, fair testing, analysis of the results, returning to reflect on the hypothesis and taking into account any experimental error.

Well done boys!

NIWA SCIENCE FAIR SPECIAL PRIZES

GOLD

 

Raymond Mallin

Photon Factory Award

SILVER

Tom McCulloch

Science Awards Trust Award

SILVER

Liam Dowling

Science Awards Trust Award

SILVER

Edward MacCulloch 

Science Awards Trust Award

SILVER

George Hill

ESA Publications Award

BRONZE

George McGuinness 

NZ Soil Science Award

BRONZE

James Murphey

MOTAT Award

BRONZE

Nelson Meacham

MOTAT Award

 

NIWA SCIENCE FAIR SPECIAL PRIZES

GOLD

 

Raymond Mallin

Photon Factory Award

SILVER

Tom McCulloch

Science Awards Trust Award

SILVER

Liam Dowling

Science Awards Trust Award

SILVER

Edward MacCulloch 

Science Awards Trust Award

SILVER

George Hill

ESA Publications Award

BRONZE

George McGuinness 

NZ Soil Science Award

BRONZE

James Murphey

MOTAT Award

BRONZE

Nelson Meacham

MOTAT Award

 

NIWA SCIENCE FAIR HIGHLY COMMENDED

Tony Li and Flynn Rendell

Wonders of Honey 

Food Science

Toby Wigglesworth

Musical Plants 

Living World

Alexander Hewes

Humpty Dumpty’s Great Fall 

Physical World

Niko Arlidge

The Evaporation Station

Planet Earth & Beyond

Edward MacCulloch 

CO2OL it down 

Planet Earth & Beyond

Josh Davies

Loud Locations 

Planet Earth & Beyond

 

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