Launch News

Susanne Milne, Launch Coordiantor F-10

Oliphant Science Awards

Students from Foundation to Year 12 are invited to participate in the annual Oliphant Science Awards.

The Oliphant Science Awards are a great opportunity for students who would:

Benefit from an opportunity to extend their learning at home.
Be able to be self-motivated and have independent learning skills.
Show attention to detail resulting in quality work.

Background

The Oliphant Science Awards is South Australia’s biggest science competition.

It encourages students to:

discover the wonders of science
explore their interests
showcase their own skills and abilities in science
engage in science in a fun and exciting way and
showcase their creativity immersed in scientific understanding.

All projects must be rich in scientific content!

Expectations

It is important that children understand that they must complete all work at home after school hours. (Exception: Year 9 students will be working on their Scientific Inquiry during their Science Lessons)

The scientific work must be completed at a high standard. Mrs Susanne Milne is able to provide feedback on your child's work at any time throughout the process.

The Award Categories

These are the categories that students can submit a Scientific project under:

1. Science Games

- Must be an original Science game.

- A creative new strategy needed in how to play, not just a knowledge-gaining game, and strong scientific content evident

2. Posters

- Limited words on the poster

- Visually impacting

Topics for posters:

Natural History Illustration (hand drawn only)
Water in Motion
Weird and Wonderful
The Colours of Chemistry
South Australian Science Heroes
- These could be historical figures like Bragg, Oliphant, Wilkins, Florey, Hetzel and Mawson, or more recent people such as Munro, Andy Thomas, McMillen and Read.
Insects for lunch!
- They're healthy. They're sustainable. So why don't humans eat more bugs?

3. Photography

2023 Photography Titles:

'Our Impact' - the images must depict human impact on nature, be it terrestrial (e.g., mining, re or deforestation), marine (fishing, sanctuaries, pollution) or atmospheric (e.g., air pollution). This impact may be negative or positive.
'Animal Habitat' – the images must show an animal (or animals) in the environment in which it lives. This can be a natural or built environment that the animal, either native or feral, has independently claimed as its habitat
'Macro' – intended to examine small elements of nature up close, with the subject to be presented larger than life-size. Subject matter includes fauna, flora or natural formation. Note: this category does not include photographs taken through a microscope.
'Vibrations' – sound or water (or other mediums) waves, music.
'Coming to a stop'
'Fibonacci in nature' - Fibonacci numbers create a mathematical pattern found throughout nature
'Invasive species' - Invasive species in Australia are a serious threat to the native biodiversity
'STEM Careers in our Community'

4. Scientific Inquiry

5. Scientific Writing

6. Models and Inventions

(Parents are allowed to help with the building if you specify explicitly how you helped)

7. Programming, Apps and Robotics

8. Multimedia

More Information can be found in the booklet here.

Could you please discuss the project with your child, and let Susanne Milne know by email (smilne@emmascc.sa.edu.au) if your child would like to accept the Scientific Oliphant Award challenge and name the ONE category in which they are interested in competing.

Projects can be started immediately, but do not have to be in until the first day back at school in Term 3, Tuesday 23 July.

Projects should be completed independently by your child.

Key Information

The students complete their projects at home.
The cost for each entry is $16 paid through the College (at a later date)
Only single-student entry projects i.e. no pairs of students working on a project.
No Crystal Investigation projects (College decision)

Thank you for your supporting your child in this venture.