Science fairDisaster influences science fair entries
Science fair for school children in Christchurch, new Zealand see several earthquake- and flood-related inventions by junior high students; first prize went to a ninth grader who designed a possum trap to protect curious native weka from being poisoned during floods
A science fair for school students at Christchurch and Timaru, New Zealand, saw numerous earthquake-related entries from Christchurch school pupils. Environment Canterbury’s science and technology fair award winners were presented late last week in Timaru, Sunday night in Christchurch.
Voxy reports that the two Environment Canterbury first prizes in Christchurch went to two ninth grade 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, age 9, who made a dry cell hydrogen generator to improve a car’s fuel efficiency. Second place went to Dinuki Karunasekera, eighth grade, of Cobham Intermediate, who tested fertilizer combinations to find which was most environmentally friendly. Third prize went to Sophie Lee, eighth grade, 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 fertilizer, she thought.
