Budding young boffins got the opportunity to pull up their sleeves and shine a light on future technologies.
Held in the school hall, groups of Grade 7s set up different displays which were judged according to experiment, design, construction and research.
Various fascinating topics were covered ranging from medicine, electromagnetic propulsion, robotics, astronautics, aviation, renewable energy and prosthetics, to name a few. One group even did a project on genetic modification and showed judges how to extract DNA from a strawberry.
“The topics were endless,” said natural science teacher, Tersia Vermeulen. “They were allowed to choose projects that they had an interest in and were given five months to compile their research.”
Pupils spent time in the science lab first and were taught chromatography and how to set up a proper experiment starting with the aim, developing a hypothesis and method, right up to the conclusion.
“This research then had to be incorporated into their displays which had to show variables like where the subject came from, how it was developed, what it is made of and what prospects it holds for future technologies,” said Vermeulen.
From here, the winning young scientists will be entered into the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists at Wits University where they will compete on a regional level in August. From there onward, if selected, they will represent Johannesburg at the International Science Fair to be held in Boksburg in October.
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