Some of the Island’s brightest young minds descended on the University of Victoria to show off science projects they've been working on for weeks.
Over 150 kids from grades four to 12 attended the Vancouver Island Regional Science Fair (VIRSF) April 6 and 7, which has given new scientists a chance to showcase their research for 63 years.
The projects on display in UVic's physics, astronomy and chemistry building explored a wide range of topics from climate change and sustainability to artificial intelligence and cancer prevention.
One the many confident, outgoing kids in attendance, Pacific Christian School student Linnaia Myhre sat in front of her foldable poster board inviting the event's hundreds of attendees to ask her about her project. Interested in aerodynamics, she wanted to figure out which type of fins would help rockets travel the farthest. Through a series of experiments, she discovered that while fins don't increase the distance rockets can fly, they do help with control.
“In spaceflight, if you were flying to the moon, you wouldn’t want to miss the moon, so I would recommend putting fins on your rocket so you don’t fly past,” she said.
Myhre settled on this of all topics to help her mom.
“I didn’t really know what I was going to do, and then I thought about my mom because she’s a teacher,” she said. “She likes shooting rockets with her class, so I thought maybe I could figure out something about the rockets to see which one was best for how far it went.”
Brielle Kendrew, another Pacific Christian School student, was also motivated to help others when she picked her project.
“Both my grandmothers have had skin cancer and they like to wear sun shirts, and I was wondering if there was a more comfortable and environmentally friendly alternative,” she said.
Using a UV sensor, she tested the extent to which radiation flowed through a range of materials. Her experiments revealed that raw silk blocks all the sun’s rays. Kendrew added her grandparents have now made efforts to switch from traditional sun shirts to silk ones.
Clara Lake, who goes to Queen Margaret’s School in Duncan, explored the ways essential oils can be used to deter rats as an alternative to traditional traps.
“I have pet rats, so I’m very passionate about their well-being,” she said. “It makes me really sad to think about the way the rats are basically tortured by these traps, so I wanted to find an alternative that’s going to allow these rats to thrive without getting in our way and … prevent them without impacting their ability to thrive.”
UVic senior lab instructor and VIRSF chair Rossi Marx, who helped organize the event, touted the importance of the scientific meet-up.
“These are our future researchers and physicians and technicians and teachers, and we need to support them and ... their interest in science,” she said.
After the fair, students, attendees and event organizers trekked to an auditorium across UVic’s quad to catch an awards ceremony where judges handed out trophies and scholarships to students with the best projects. Seven kids were also selected to represent the region at a Canadawide science fair in Fredericton, N.B. from May 31 to June 7.
