Ten Awards for Girls’ School at Science Fair!

Detailed scientific investigations saw seven of our Year 8 girls receive ten awards between them after being selected to represent the School at the NIWA Auckland City Science and Technology Fair. This followed on from their in-school competition where eleven students were selected to go to the Auckland finals. The annual event celebrates excellence in scientific and technological investigations carried out by students in Years 7-12 across Auckland City. 

Two girls placed 1st in their category and were also recognised with special prizes! Kate Thibaud placed 1st in the Human Behaviour category with her investigation, ‘Bet You Will Remember This.’ Kate investigatd how we retain written information and established a thorough yet simple memory test to recall words. She received a special prize, a Gold Sponsor’s Award: Presentation of projects to the Auckland Museum Institute and Membership.

Olivia McIndoe also placed 1st in Technology/Living World. Stemming from people hunching their back to use their phone, her project, ‘Tech Neck’ looked at the impact of the current use of ‘devices’ when bending the spine. She was also awarded a Gold Sponsor’s Award: The University of Auckland Faculty of Science Award for Experimental Design in Physical Investigation.

Sacha Earnest was Highly Commended also receiving a Silver Sponsor’s Award in the Physical World category for her investigation ‘Does the Wheel Size Determine Bike Speed?’ As a champion BMX cyclist, this was a topic of great importance to her! Her award from Transport Auckland Council offers her the opportunity to spend a ‘A Day in the life of Auckland Transport.’

Arya Blackler, Annabelle Mar, Millie Paris and Charlotte Scoones were all also highly commended for their investigations. Arya investigated the % of juice available for extraction from oranges; Anabelle produced a thorough analysis on reaction times of individuals using a standard reaction test; Millie designed a recognition test to identify faces showing a range of emotions; and Charlotte created a test to detect particles of pollution.

The design of the Science Fair is always hard to choose and prepare for. Students have many ideas but pulling their ideas together, organising their variables and creating a reasonable experiment with a testable and measurable hypothesis is no easy task – especially when you want to be creative and do something no one else is doing! These girls achieved just that, well done!