Science and Technology Fairs
Environment Canterbury staff judge exhibits in the special category of Resource Management in the Science and Technology fairs held in Christchurch and Timaru. Awards are given to students whose exhibits take an innovative investigative approach to solving an environmental issue facing Canterbury.
There are 2 categories: Years 7-8 and Years 9-13.
Prizes:
Winning exhibitors receive $1000 for their school.
Students receive:
- $400 1st place
- $150 2nd place
- $80 3rd place
Senior students [Years 12 and 13] are also offered work experience.
Download the 2010 Science and Technology Fair Junior poster (pdf 1.49 MB)
Download the 2010 Science and Technology Fair Senior poster (pdf 1.20 MB)
Download our Teacher Information Pack (pdf 676 kB)
Check out our Living Here Kids pages about science.
Canterbury-Westland Schools’ Science and Technology Fair (Christchurch) 2010
Junior (Years 7-8)
First
Dinuki Karunasekera
Cobham Intermediate
‘Water Anguish’
Dinuki wanted to find ways to reduce the threat to groundwater and surface water from nitrogen and phosphorus-rich dairy run-off. She found that duckweed was extremely effective at absorbing nitrogen and phosphorus from enriched water for the first ten days, but the effect reduced soon after that. Oxygen weed was not much use at all. She also found that countries like Bangladesh already use similar systems to manage waste-water in sediment tanks and reuse the clean water.
Second equal
Emma Clucas
Cobham Intermediate
‘Polystyrene Recyclene’
Rowan McComish
Cobham Intermediate
‘Enviro Blocks’
Third
Alex Pickering & Holly Harris
‘Help keep the tui in Canterbury’
Heathcote Valley School
Senior winners (Years 9-13)
First
Thomas Ferguson
Lincoln High School
‘Bloom to burn’
Pond algae could create biofuel for heating. Thomas Ferguson was inspired by a pond near his school’s art rooms that had attracted criticism after it became over-run with duckweed and algal bloom. He decided to work out a way to use the unwanted green growth and algae without too many extra chemicals or energy-sapping processes. Normal herbicides had little effect on it - bleaching it on top, but leaving its underside alive and well. Snails thrived on it, as did the weed with the snails. Harvesting it by raking it off and drying it, using a solvent and glycerol to separate the oil, provided his oily biofuel result.
Second
Rachel Robilliard
St Margaret’s College
‘The effect of herbicide on stream invertebrates’
Third
Caitlin Hooft, Delcie Holmes & Melissa Reid
Cashmere High School
‘Living sustainably’
Sanford Science and Technology Fair (Timaru) 2009
Junior (Years 7-8)
First
Sophie Chambers and Emily Davies-Martin
Gleniti School
'Bag yourself a better environment'
An inspirational idea to help supermarket shoppers remember their reusable bags won two Timaru 12-year-olds a first prize from Environment Canterbury at Timaru’s Sanford Central South Island Science and Technology Fair.
The students surveyed shoppers about their shopping bag use and were pleased to find that more than 85 per cent remembered to take their reusable ones into the supermarket.
But they also learned that many people still regularly forgot and left them in the car or at home. So they came up with the idea of a brightly coloured “Got Me” key ring and a sticker as a reminder. Not only did their clever thinking lead to a first prize from Environment Canterbury, but it has also attracted the interest of a major supermarket chain.
Second
Libby Davenport and Laura Cockroft
St Joseph's School
'Hitching a ride'
Third
Grace Fisher and Sarah Woodley
Geraldine High School
'Happy Waterways at Happibank'
Senior winners (Years 9-13)
First
Samantha Olley
Craighead Diocesan School
'Green roofs are good'
Samantha’s project “Green Roofs are Good” was inspired by finding out that her aunt in the Faroe Islands off the coast of Denmark had a house with a turf roof.
“Green roofs are quite traditional there and I was curious to find out why. I found out that some of the benefits are better heat and sound insulation and stormwater retention.”
Samantha would like to see greater community awareness of the advantages of green roofs and would also be keen to see more construction companies prepared to install them.
Second
Leah Hollamby
Craighead Diocesan School
'Stop, Think, Sort'
Third
Danielle Ashby-Coventry
Craighead Diocesan School
'Precious Water – waste not want not'
The Wrybill Trophy
Each year, the winners of the Environment Canterbury School Award category present their exhibits to Councillors at Environment Canterbury, Christchurch. The overall winner is awarded the Wrybill Trophy, the best of the best!
Wrybill Trophy winner 2009
Samantha Olley
Craighead Diocesan School, Timaru
The top junior and senior Environment Canterbury winners at the Christchurch and Timaru science and technology fairs, held in September 2009, are eligible for the Wrybill award. Three of the finalists presented to Councillors at a workshop in Christchurch.
The judge, Dr Grant McKenzie, of Lincoln University, said he was impressed at the excellence shown by Samantha, 14, who explored an environmental issue and came up with a workable solution.
Samantha’s project “Green Roofs are Good” was inspired by finding out that her aunt in the Faroe Islands, governed by Denmark, between Scotland and Iceland, had a house with a turf roof.
“Green roofs are quite traditional there and I was curious to find out why. I found out that some of the benefits are better heat and sound insulation and stormwater retention.”
Samantha would like to see greater community awareness of the advantages of green roofs and would also be keen to see more construction companies prepared to install them.
Youth Leadership for Sustainability Awards
Encouraging the next generation of sustainability leadership.
These awards are sponsored in partnership with Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu.
The Youth Leadership for Sustainability (YLS) award has two categories - individual and group. Entries are invited from Canterbury secondary school students who have been making a difference in the community, at school or in their own household.
We are looking for individuals and groups who, through their own or school/organisational initiatives, have done something positive towards making Canterbury a great place to live.
Eligibility
Category – Individual: Any student in Years 12-13 living in Canterbury who has been making a difference and is willing to present or display their own unique project.
Category – Group: Any group of 13-18 year olds within Canterbury who have worked on a sustainability initiative either within school or beyond (this can be in collaboration with a community organisation).
Information sheet (pdf 306 kB)
Brochure (pdf 463 kB)
Poster (pdf 249 kB)
Application form (pdf 320 kB)
Youth Environment Forum – The Sir Peter Blake Trust Award
Annually a group of students (aged 15-18) from Canterbury are selected from a pool of applicants to represent the region at the 4-day hui in Wellington. This year (2010), 6 young people from across the region attended the hui April 11-15th. They engaged in workshops and activities designed to inspire them and build their leadership capabilities, and were supported during their time there by Paul De Spa, Environment Canterbury Educator for Sustainability.
If you are interested in knowing more, please contact Paul at paul.despa@ecan.govt.nz or on 03 353 9737.
Further information can be found here:
http://www.mfe.govt.nz/withyou/youth/
or
http://www.sirpeterblaketrust.org/environment/youth_environment_forum/