Science Talent Search 2024 

The Science Talent Search (STS) is an annual, science-based competition open to all primary and secondary students in Victoria, Australia. The 2024 theme was Species Survival: more than just sustainability. Our students created online game, science-fiction stories, videos and posters displaying their knowledge. The output from our 18 submissions was incredible and our students were acknowledged for their contribution to scientific research and communication. Of our submissions:

•  Emily Nash (9D) received a major bursary for her short film on the Southern Corroboree Frog – Can they survive a deadly disease? 
• Dylan Singh (9D) and Damien Le (9D) also received a minor bursary for their short story – Escaping 

Image: Successful STS winners from left to right: Dylan Singh, Emily Nash and Damien Le.

Koonung Secondary College participates in the STS every year. The theme for 2025 is ‘Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature’s hidden language’. Keep an eye on compass in term 1 if you would like to participate – it is open to all who are interested. 

Kate Arnold

Head of Science

Escaping

By Dylan Singh and Damien Le

Life is getting more and more difficult by the day. My soon-to-be children’s eggs were smashed yesterday; one of the first signs of the huge metal machines that would inevitably pollute the forest. The humans consistently came in the morning to leave by night, spraying this nauseating mixture around where I called home. Whatever it was, it focused on only death and destruction - I watched my wife’s body get crushed under huge, rotating movement tools before it was swiftly disposed of. It was not the first time I wished I could spit venom further.

My skin was getting tight, too. During the mating season, the inconvenience was even more profound as there never seemed to be enough rats, toads, and frogs to go around. They too were struggling - my skin seemed to hinder my movements so much that when I finally reached the lake it was already dried up, along with the frogs scattered around. Not an ideal meal, but it was hard to complain. I spat, briefly recalling the memory as I searched for a rock to shed my skin. It would undoubtedly make me vulnerable, the new layer underneath needing some time to harden and as such offering no protection to my predators. The beginning was always the hardest; by now I had found a rock and was rubbing it incessantly against my skin before the outer layer broke. Satisfied with my progress, I left the rock and eased myself up as the familiar feeling of the lubricant encompassing my skin let me move out, unharmed. 

By now I was hungry, and I could hear the sound of a waterfall crashing into the ground nearby. Last I checked, the humans hadn’t got there yet. My eyes lit up as I swiftly slithered towards the looming prospect of fresh food. Emerging through the bush, I raced for the water but instantly froze. One of the trees nearby had a shiny piece of equipment on it - it was unlike anything I had ever seen. Upon further inspection, I could see my reflection in it - a human creation. 

I spat at it and moved away.

The base of the waterfall proved my theory; the water had a somewhat metallic taste as I hissed and drew away, searching for a source of food. My eyes scanned the landscape, slowly deteriorating in its vibrancy as I caught a frog in my crosshairs. In one swift motion, I darted towards it and spat directly into its eyes, watching it flail around uselessly before I sunk my fangs into its abdomen, putting it out of its misery. I smiled. It would be enough to feed myself for at least a few days now. I might’ve even felt bad for it if I wasn’t hungry - the last thing it saw would’ve been the terrifying sight of my jaw unhinging before swallowing it whole.

I was tired now - completing a feat such as that was no walk in the park. Mentally and physically drained, I slithered away from the water bank and relieved my bowels of the day’s extremities. The thoughts of being tracked proliferated around my mind, but the waste seemed to already be dispersing within the soil. It would be hard to track, but not impossible. 

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Snake Scientist’s Log - 26/05/2024

Today I visited Borneo with the hope of finding an Indochinese Spitting Cobra - I believe that I might have found one. Subtle traces of shed snakeskin had been discovered by a large rock southwest of the waterfall, allowing me to classify the snake in terms of sex and family. I was also able to guess its next location - the cobra had presumably gone to replenish its energy with a meal of small rodents or amphibians before it relieved itself of its waste through defecation. From there it was just a game of trial and error; I walked no less than 50 meters before I found it curled up under a tree. I will remember that feeling for years to come; everything I had ever accomplished had led to this discovery. What was probably one of the last living Indochinese Spitting Cobras around was right in front of me, and now all I had to do was await its consciousness so I could observe its mannerisms before taking it back for further research. I will sit under a tree and wait patiently now - good things come to those who wait.

I don’t think he knew I was awake - a bright light had been trained on me for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was no more than 10 minutes. The culprit itself had been resting; body slumped against a tree not too far from my position. I began to hiss before catching myself as I watched the steady rise and fall of his chest linger for a moment before resuming. I smirked, silently slithering up behind him a few moments before he woke up to the sound of my tail beating against the floor. I tried not to laugh as he yawned, stretched, and muttered to himself in rapid succession before approaching the tree that had provided me with shade moments ago. Then, he grabbed his torch and peered into the small ditch underneath the tree…

“Here, snakey, snakey…”

I hissed and he instinctively turned around, only to be met with one of the most detrimental doses of venom in the world. It was enough to make any grown man scream.

“CRAP!”, he shouted, his hand reaching up to his right eye - it was beginning to swell like a balloon.

As I closed in for the kill, I made the jolting discovery that I felt no remorse; but there was a reason. He was one of them, one of them who defined the very reason why snakes travel solo - a link to those monstrous machines of destruction. 

I hissed as my jaw unhinged…