Kids Unlimited, Island Academy win big in Science Fair

Antigua’s annual National Science Fair came to a close last Friday with Kids Unlimited Primary and Island Academy Secondary scoring the best overall results.

The event was put on through a collaborative effort of the Association for Science & Technology Educators of Antigua & Barbuda (ASTEAB) and the Ministry of Education. It was sponsored mainly by Antigua Computer Technology (ACT) Co. Ltd., and the Antigua Commercial Bank.

The 15 schools that participated in the week long fair at the Multi-purpose Cultural & Exhibition Centre gathered there again last Friday to hear from the judges the results of their efforts. Also present was the Minister of Youth Affairs Winston Williams and Solomon Doumith, the managing director of ACT.

Elton Isaac, president of ASTEAB, said the projects were of an extremely high standard and demonstrated ingenuity, inventiveness, tremendous creativity, scienti-

fic skills as well as resourcefulness.

Dr. Anthony Richards, the government’s chief chemist, spoke on behalf of the chief judge, Dr. Helena Clare Jeffrey Browne, who was unable to attend the ceremony.

He observed that the projects reflected a very wide range of areas, from drawing straight lines to forming a curve, right over to demonstrations of generation of energy. He said the judges were also very pleased with the effort to make the projects dramatic.

The judges, however, advised that in the future the students should make a greater effort to link the projects to the Antiguan & Barbudan situation and prepare to explain the relevance to the local community.

The lack of correct or relevant measurements to accompany the projects was also mentioned. To this Dr. Richards said: “Science and technology is all about being able to prove something by having the facts and figures. So, if you had a windmill to generate electricity, one would like to know the wind speed and what voltage you got from that wind speed. We encourage the teachers to work with the students to be more numerate in the future.”

Barring the few drawbacks to the projects, winners of the pack still emerged, whose projects were just a bit better than the others.

Chantel Byron of Kids Unlimited was named the most outstanding of all the ca-

tegories when she emerged with four individual medals for her project, the Greasel Engine, which is a modified diesel engine designed to use vegetable oil.

Most notably, she won the overall Best Primary School Project ACT plaque. Kids Unlimited was also the best primary school winner.

Eutesha Browne of the Princess Margaret School was also outstanding for receiving five awards for her project, Comparison of Hurricane Protection Practices in the Upper Secondary category.

She won an ACT plaque for the Best Upper Secondary Project and the Environment Division trophy for Best Environmental Project.

Christine Persaud was the big winner in the Lower Secondary category for her project, Oil or Wind. She had the overall best project and won silver in the Environment Division’s best environmental project category.

For the number of projects submitted, the Island Academy Secondary won the Best Secondary school trophy.

The Dr. Hayden Thomas Trophy for Best Chemistry Project went to the Ottos Comprehensive School for Hydroponics, a procedure of growing plants without soil.

By Nikisha Smith