Science News

Science Talent Search 2020

As mentioned in the August newsletter we had 7 students enter the Victorian Science Talent Search for 2020. The theme of the competition for this year was “Deep Blue: Innovations of the Ocean”. Students could elect to use the theme of the Ocean for certain projects and in other areas of the competition they could choose their own scientific themes to investigate. Our students elected to participate in a range of activities which are outlined below:

Year 7: Yug Soni – Computer game - Space Debris 

Year 7: Param Dave - poster - Scrap Sucking Ship 

Year 7: Jamie Katic and Alexander Tari – Video - Circle of Light 

Year 8: Harshitha Meenakshisundaram - Creative writing - An Ocean of Change

Year 8: Amelia Sujana - Creative writing - Jigsaw Puzzle

Year 11: Ishwarya Polisetti – Model – How are Paper Centrifuges used to diagnose 

Malaria

Very pleasingly all students did very well in the competition. Yug’s Space Debris game and Param’s Scrap Sucking ship poster received acknowledgement awards and encouraging comments about the creativity of their projects from the judges. 

Jamie Katic and Alexander Tari‘s ‘Circle of Light’ video and Harshitha Meenakshisundaram's creative essay ‘An Ocean of Change’ received Distinctions for their projects. This was a great effort and the judges were very pleased with the scientific information included in their projects and their originality. 

Amelia Sujana wrote a creative poem about the ocean called the Jigsaw Puzzle which we have attached to this article. Her creative writing piece won her a Minor Bursary award in the Junior Secondary division which was an impressive effort given it was her first time in the competition. 

Last year Ishwaraya Polisetti won a Minor Bursary award and this year she improved her result by winning a Major Bursary award in the Senior Science division for her model: How paper centrifuges can be used to diagnose malaria. Ishwaraya’s project demonstrated excellent scientific research skills and the judge’s comment was: “Well thought out especially the resourcefulness of the materials”. 

Both Amelia and Ishwaraya will be attending the Victorian Science Talent Search Awards Ceremony online to receive their awards.

Glen Eira College would like to extend our congratulations to these students on their participation and excellent results for this event. 

Elizabeth Allan

Head of Science