There have been lots of great things happening across the Science Faculty this year, with students succeeding well, both in school and out of school. Read on for the highlights from 2017.

Nine year 10 students Joe Churton , Abby-Grace Clunies-Ross, Ella Downing, Reuben Goble, Grace Houston, Amelia MacDonald, Matthew Robertson, Maia Te Whetu and Sofia Tuliau-Walker were selected to participate in a project called He Puna Pūtaiao in term four of 2016. This project was in collaboration with the University of Canterbury and involved the students spending six days at the University carrying out an investigation into the water quality of Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere). The students did background research before going to Te Waihora to collect samples to analyse back at the University. They then had to present posters of their findings to University staff, Kaumātua and invited guests. All the students thoroughly enjoyed the project and produced some great work. As the project was so successful we are continuing it in Term four 2017 with nine year 10 students again.

Through Otago University, five students Mihaya Chan, Rachel Els, Penny Howes, Jesse Northcoat and Bon Taylor were selected to attend Hands-on-Otago in the January of 2017. This is a week long programme held at the University of Otago where the students got to experience what research scientists do by participating in their own research group and also experiencing “tasters” of other research projects on and off campus. Rachel and Penny were part of the Physiology research group, Mihaya and Jesse joined the Pharmacy group, and Bon was part of the Pharmacology group. All students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and highly recommend other students apply for this opportunity.

We had 39 students participate in the International competitions and assessments for schools (ICAS) Science competition in 2017, with five students gaining a High Distinction:Samuel Li, Jordan Peters, Toby Govin-Fowler, Sung Min Oh and Joseph Grace. Twelve students gained a distinction award: Hao Li, Angela Guo, Thomas James, Nicholas Grace, Hadas Livne, Akshat Goyal, Nick Peters, Robin Wan, Mark Lemzin, Leon Meier, E Wen Wong and Aditi Sharma. We also had 27 students take part in the Australian International Chemistry Quiz with 13 gaining Distinction or High Distinction certificates. Aditi Sharma (Year 9), Sung Min Oh and Jordan Peters (Year 10) all scored the top result in New Zealand for their year level.

Melissa Bayley, Max Bobby, and Chenielle Clark were selected to participate in the week long Water Wise camp initiative. They were based at Lincoln University and looked at water conservation and management issues in the Te Waihora catchment. They met with local Iwi, farmers, University lecturers and other interested parties to discuss the issues and devise possible solutions to such a multi-faceted area of great concern. Many thanks to Melissa Reid who volunteered her time to attend the week as teacher support from Burnside High School.

The Biology department was fortunate enough again this year to host Professor Euan Mason from University of Canterbury School of Engineering who spoke to year 13 Biology students about Biotechnology in Forestry Science. Professor John Hickford from Lincoln University also engaged our year 13 Biology students with an amazing talk on selective breeding vs genetic engineering and the research currently being undertaken in NZ. The year 13 Biology students also got up close and personal with the Gorillas at Orana Park as they studied aspects of Human Evolution.

An initiative in the Biology department this year saw all 200, year 12 Biology students, undertake an investigation into the aspirational goal of Predator Free NZ by 2050. This work included a field trip to Lincoln University where research scientists took the students through the impressive predator free fence enclosure to talk about their work. Also, Dr James Ross gave a lecture about what Science is doing to help achieve this goal with the likes of genetic research and improvements to species specific targeting. The day was ended with a trip to Kaituna Reserve for students to see one of the impressive stands of Kahikatea still remaining on Bank Peninsula.

Year 13 Physics students visited the University of Canterbury's (UC) Electrical Engineering Department to find out more about this increasingly important field. The visit was organised and hosted by the EPE Centre (Centre of Excellence in Electric Power Engineering), an organisation with core areas of operation in education, research and industry interaction. Students found out more about electrical engineering at UC and visited the Machine Lab which focuses on power generation and distribution, the Embedded Systems lab where we were shown drones and Turtlebots, and the electrifying High Voltage lab where lightning bolts were created and students were charged up to hundreds of kilovolts in a Faraday cage. A large Tesla coil was also harnessed to make music for our enjoyment. An entertaining and educational experience for all.

A group of aspiring engineers entered the Next Top Engineering Scientist competition run by Auckland University. The competition ran one Saturday in August over nine hours, with the challenge being to answer this question: “How many rocket launches from Mahia Peninsula would it take to establish a lunar colony?”. The team of Li Hao, Su Zhenghan, Samantha Johnson and Kevin Chen spent the day researching, computer modelling and writing the report which was submitted with 1 minute to spare.

We had two teams enter the ARA Year 12 Chemistry Competition. This competition has the students complete various qualitative and theoretical chemistry tasks as a team and they are competing against other schools from all over Christchurch. Team A consisted of Robin Wan, Owen Wong and Saya Nitta, and were placed 2nd and Team B consisted of Ethel Shen, Hayley Khoo and Akshat Goyal and were placed 3rd.

Robin Wan and Owen Wong entered into the Chemistry Olympiad examination to find New Zealand's top Chemistry students to compete in this International event. Their results in this exam have gained them both places on the training squad for 2018 where they will have more selection examinations. A great achievement for both boys.

Twelve students from our year 13 Chemistry extension class volunteered their time this year to be part of a new initiative for 2017 “Chemistry Club”. Theserie Aknine, Josiah Edwin, Ellen Getty, Selena Gilmer, Rebecca Grimwood, David Lin, Yuan Meng, Jesse Northcoat, Devina Patel, Anna Pryor, Fergus Robertson and Linda Wang formed a group of mentors and worked with students from Burnside Primary and Cobham Intermediate on a Chemistry programme set up by Post doctorate students from the University of Canterbury (UC). The students carried out some qualitative analysis and synthesised aspirin which they then had analysed at UC.

Other field trips this year included year 13 Chemistry students spending a day at the University of Canterbury being introduced to different spectroscopic equipment used at the University while they were studying the techniques in class. Also our year 11 extension students had a day out at Rutherford’s Den, looking at the research of Rutherford and other scientists that developed the current model of the atom, and the University of Canterbury Physics department where they got to carry out experiments on Radioactive materials.

Miss O’Loughlin, 

HOF Science