‘Greener’ solutions dominate Region Six School Science Fair
Tain Primary's winning Manually-powered sprinkling system
The use of alternative energy in a world threatened by Global Warming was the central theme at the Region Six Science, Mathematics and Technology Fair held this week.
The two-day annual event, the prelude to the big National Science Fair to be held in April, came to an end on Thursday at the JC Chandisingh Secondary School at Port Mourant, with several Primary and Secondary Schools vying for the top positions in the categories in which they had entered.
Each school had exhibits that stressed the importance of taking care of the environment. The theme for this year’s celebrations was “Unlocking Potential for Greener Societies”.
Port Mourant Secondary School’s exhibit focused on cheap, clean, and harmless sources of energy.
The JC Chandinsingh Secondary exhibit, the Energy Efficient House, utilised LED Lights to conserve energy. Their argument was that the ozone layer is being destroyed due to the excessive consumption of fossil fuels, which emit greenhouse gases.
St. Aloysius Primary of New Amsterdam’s “Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming” addressed the warming of the earth head-on, noting in their exhibit that efficient house an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases causes an increase in the average global temperature of about one degree Celsius to four degrees Celsius. Their project sought to prove the rise in temperature, using five ml of white vinegar to calcium bicarbonate and switching on table lamps at the same time and shining them on the box containing the vinegar.
The temperatures were then recorded at various intervals.
JC Chandisingh Secondary's Energy
Number 68 Primary’s exhibit of a beach with mangrove trees tried to demonstrate the importance of mangroves to protect the coastline from erosion and flooding. Skeldon Primary’s Restoration of Combat Global Warming proved to be one of the popular exhibits as well. Their booth linked mangrove restoration with the combined responsible action of humans which can definitely reduce the effects of global warming. Crabwood Creek Primary, in their booth, demonstrated a model of a school to help students grasp the concepts of measurement and angles through discovery learning.
School of the Nations’ home-made barometer was aimed at helping persons in the home and students to predict weather conditions based on the atmospheric conditions.
Vryman's Erven Secondary's Oil Refinery
Tain Primary, which emerged the winner in the Primary category, with its manually- powered sprinkler system, sought to develop a simpler system to assist farmers to irrigate their fields, while using less water at the same time.
They observed that a significant amount of residents of Tain on the Corentyne, depend on farming for their livelihood and utilise lots of water.
This activity, they noted, results in a high use of electricity and labour which is very costly and contributes to global warming. By using their manually powered sprinkler system, many of those tasks can be done simultaneously and without using electricity.
Scimatech was the title of the project from the New Amsterdam Multilateral Senior Secondary School which called for the utilisation of renewable forms of energy such as wind, solar, biogas. JC Chandisingh promoted the production of ethanol from paddy shells and the preparation of gasohol as alternative fuel solutions.
The Vryman’s Erven Secondary School’s Oil Refinery Plant, the very first for Guyana, and one built to the strictest environmental regulations, sought to show the economic benefits of refining crude oil here rather than overseas.
And School of the Nations Secondary School project, the Spirometer, aimed at measuring the capacity of students’ lung capacity so that they can know the levels of their performance in physical activity. They recommended that every school be equipped with a spirometer.
Students, they suggested, will be able to be trained accordingly in their respective sporting events.
In the end, Tain Primary came out on top in the primary category, followed by School of the Nations, Number 68 Primary, St Aloysius and a tie between All Saints and Skeldon primaries.
Tutorial Academy was the top secondary school followed by JC Chandisingh in the Integrated Science category (Lower), while in the Upper level, Port Mourant Secondary ranked top, followed by Black Bush Secondary and Canje.
New Amsterdam Multilateral School (NAMS) topped in the Environmental Science category followed by Skeldon Line Path and School of the Nations.
NAMS also gained first place in the Home Economics Category. In the Agricultural Science category, Black Bush Polder and Tagore tied for first place followed by Berbice High School (BHS).
In the Physical Education Category, School of the Nation’s Spirometer reigned supreme. Corentyne Comprehensive High won in the Compost Biology category, while JC Chandisingh’s Gasohol exhibit won in the Chemistry category.
In Maths, BHS ranked first while in Physics, JC Chandisingh, NAMS and Corentyne Comprehensive were winners respectively.
JC Chandisingh Secondary won the Industrial Technology category, followed by BHS, while the Sixth Form category was won by NAMS followed by School of the Nations.
The winners will move on to represent the Region Six area in the National Science Fair to be held at the New Amsterdam Technical Institute in April.