Douglasdale schoolchildren recognised for research skills
DOUGLASDALE – Two Grade 10s from Kings College and Preparatory School have been awarded first place in the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials Science competition, earning R15 00 for their school.
Six Grade 10 learners of King’s College and Preparatory School in Douglasdale have wowed Wits University with their research skills.
The learners participated in this year’s Material Science Poster Competition, an initiative of the Department of Science and Innovation and National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials at Wits.
Of the four posters submitted by the school, three were invited to the competition’s prize-giving where two of them were awarded certificates of excellence while the third was awarded first place. Nathan Stephanis created his poster on Cabkoma carbon fibre strand rod and won a certificate of excellence. Marnis Antonites, Tayla Holding and Zia Whittal focused on super magnesium and also received a certificate of excellence. Jessie Cheng and Brigitte Weiss focused on metallic microlattices and won first place.
“Only Grade 10s are allowed to participate in this competition, and I make it compulsory for my kids to enter,” said Marlien Senekal, who teaches science at the school.
“The posters must be created digitally [using a computer] and the kids need to go do their own research on strong materials.”
The prize-giving was held on the Wits campus on 17 October. The prize for first place awarded to the King’s College learners was R15 000 which will be used to buy science equipment for the school.
“It’s wonderful to have won, we’ve gotten third place [in previous years] but really weren’t expecting first place,” added Senekal. “I think this competition is a wonderful opportunity for the kids to firstly expand their knowledge by doing their own research, and secondly to get motivated about learning.”
Jessie and Brigitte were surprised by their win. “We actually thought no one else would do the same metal as we did, but when we went to the prize-giving, we saw that there were other posters dealing with metallic microlattices so we didn’t expect to win. Then they called our names and we were shocked.”
The centre is a research network that helps researchers collaborate among different universities and disciplines on the study of strong materials and their various uses.
Details: Department of Science and Innovation and National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence in Strong Materials www.wits.ac.za/strongmaterials;
King’s College and Preparatory School www.thekingscollege.co.za
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