NIS Students Take on the Challenge of the 2021 NIWA Science Fair
In term 3, some keen NIS students decided to enter projects into the 2021 NIWA Science Fair. Students were given support and guidance from Mr. Svela in order to complete their projects . Plus, their classroom teachers gave them a lot of in-class work time and encouragement too! Here’s a summary of the projects.
Entrants
Projects
Birds in My Garden
Recycled Robot Dogs
James Poudyal and Josh Morgan
The Devastating Effects of Deforestation in NZ
Cory Holmes
Float On: How Buoyancy Works
Dominic Moore
To Compost or Not to Compost
Bella Qu and Nicole Li
Battery Train
Brynn Pierce
Natural vs. Chemical: Which Cleans Best?
When interviewed about their experiences, students were clear that it was so great to have a lot of flexibility at Newlands Intermediate to pursue what they’re passionate about.
According to James, “we chose our topic because it’s [deforestation] happened and is happening in New Zealand right now.” While the lockdown in August provided more time for students to work on their projects, it also made working together more challenging because of lack of face-to-face work time.
“With the limited amount of time, we tried to think of the simplest and most original plan we could. It was tough to get some of the supplies, especially because of the lockdown,” said Bella. On the other hand, Tyler had this to say, “the lockdown helped us work on our progress because we could work on the desalinator at home and we had more time to work on the google slides. We procrastinate a lot but in the end we did good.”
Tyler and Abhim won the Engineering New Zealand Award for the creation of an innovative solution to a physical engineering problem. A $75 prize was provided.
The other winning project was submitted by Maxine, who said, “I wanted to challenge myself with something I’ve never thought of doing before. Seeing a real Robot Dog fascinated me, so I wanted to try to do ‘my’ version of it. For me, problems I encountered were non-working circuits, wrong parts, and mechanisms that didn't make sense on how it would work.
But on the bright side, It was fun to do, and I got through everything in the end. I was able to problem solve and work my way through stressful situations.”
She has won the prestigious Te Herenga Waka— Victoria University of Wellington School of Engineering and Computer Science for the most imaginative and effective projects using computers or information technology. This award carries a $200 prize value.
Congratulations to all of the entrants from our school. They all worked hard and had fun exploring science and technology topics. Many of the students are excited to enter the fair again next year.
