Pupils excel at science expo
A total of 17 grade 7 to 10 pupils from Sacred Heart College participated in the Eskom Regional Expo for Young Scientists in July.
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About 300 projects were assembled from across the country and were judged by experts, including senior science teachers.
Charvana Skye Naidoo, Lula Pam-Grant, Didintle Mogodi and Ruth McCormick from Sacred Heart College received silver medals for their project about the five second rule and frustrated yet?
The five second rule questioned whether it is safe to eat food that has been dropped on the floor and picked up after five seconds.
Different food types were dropped on the floor and left for varying amounts of time. Swabs were taken and the bacteria and fungi were cultured on a nutritive agar. Frustrated yet? explored an electric board with moveable pins.
Test subjects had to move the magnetic pins and copy a pattern. The tester sabotaged their efforts by changing the polarity of the pins.
Levels of frustration were observed by the second tester and measured using body language and verbal curses.
“To participate in such an event, and to be exposed to all the other ideas and perhaps win an award, is hugely motivating to budding young scientists,” said Ms Lamorna Cantin, a Sacred Heart College High School science teacher.
@JoziReporter