Science and Technology Fair winners – earthquake dominates Christchurch entries

The recent science and technology fairs held in Christchurch and Timaru resulted in numerous earthquake-related entries from Christchurch school pupils. Students tested varying ratios of silt and soil to see which grew the best lettuces and grass, mixed silt with concrete to make pavers, found there was more zinc in Woolston silt than in Dallington silt and designed earthquake-safe bridges and buildings.

Environment Canterbury’s science and technology fair award winners were presented late last week in Timaru, by Commissioner Tom Lambie and Sunday night, September 11, in Christchurch, by Commissioner David Caygill.

2011 Canterbury-Westland Schools Science and Technology Fair - Christchurch
The two Environment Canterbury senior place-getters in Christchurch were both year 9 pupils of Lincoln High. Heather Neill designed a possum trap to protect curious native weka from being poisoned and Finn Lee designed an exhaust filter for his motorbike out of an old can.

In the junior/intermediate category, first prize went to home-schooled Johan Esterhuizen, year 9, who made a dry cell hydrogen generator to improve a car’s fuel efficiency. Second place went to Dinuki Karunasekera, year 8, of Cobham Intermediate, who tested fertiliser combinations to find which was most environmentally friendly. Third prize went to Sophie Lee, year 8, of Kirkwood Intermediate, who tested dairy cow, beef cattle and sheep poo for acidity/alkalinity and environment effects. Dairy cow waste was potentially the most harmful to biodiversity, she found. Surrounding dairy farms with moats would enable them to gather effluent and use it as garden fertiliser, she thought.

2011 Sanford Science and Technology Fair, South/Mid Canterbury - Senior Category:

Conserving stormwater and roof water through rain water tanks - Bronte Davenport, Craighead Diocesan School – first place

Bronte tackled an issue she felt was ‘more important than anything’ - conserving or capturing water. Bronte surveyed 30 people on their attitude to water and whether they had thought of putting in a rainwater tank. Most hadn’t thought about it. She feels that people should be encouraged to put in rainwater tanks, particularly when building new. The recent earthquakes were a good reminder of how important having on-site water supplies could be in an emergency, she said.

Less plastic bags being used in retail outlets - Tessa Adolph, Craighead Diocesan School – second place

Tessa’s project was aimed at reducing the number of plastic bags people use, for example, at the supermarket checkout. She designed a stick-on label, much like the ones used on cigarette boxes, to remind people that discarded plastic ends up in the sea and kills wildlife, particularly dolphins. Her sticker design showed a dolphin with a bag on its snout.

An automatic re-setting rat trap – Andrew Tiffen, Ashburton College – third place

Andrew’s project was designed to reduce the rat population, which in turn would enhance biodiversity and the survival potential for baby birds and other native wildlife which they prey upon.

Junior Category
Getting plastic tape off the rugby field - Blair Smith, St Joseph’s, Timaru

Blair, a keen rugby player, was disturbed by the amount of plastic tape (used to hold the laces against the boots) that is discarded after each game. He felt that this was a challenging environmental problem as many players just leave the tape on the field to be either picked up by others and binned or mulched up by the mower. He designed an elastic replacement and trialled it throughout the season. He aims to encourage others to reject expensive plastic tape and go for the environmentally friendly option.

High-visibility jackets could be cool - Emma Kelly and Micaela Cooper, St Joseph’s, Timaru

Emma and Micaela decided that their school’s reflective safety jackets, designed to encourage safe walking and cycling to school, were just not cool. They designed several options and took them out to their school community for comment. Two of their designs were popular and they are now looking to promote the more tailored and colourful design within their school. They had come to the idea through their class’s involvement in the Environment Canterbury Move It! Education programme

Less paper advertising in letterboxes - Amanda Knipe, Grantlea Downs School

Amanda was amazed by the huge amount of advertising that came through her letterbox each week. She found out that a town the size of Timaru generates enough advertising in letterboxes to use up 600 pine trees per month, something she would like to see reduced.