Young Eskom Expo for Young Scientists winners won bursaries to study science at Rhodes University. Students from Victoria Girls High School predominated in the regional finals of the Expo held at the Pharmacy and Chemistry Department at Rhodes, Saturday, August 1st 2015.
Danielle Walker, Jacqui James and Lelethu Rayi took second, third and fourth place respectively, with Lauren James the regional winner for her study titled, ‘Are Eucalyptus trees allelopathic and if so, how does this affect germination and growth’.
Regional Expo Director Anja Fourie said that it was probably the first time the top four finalists had been from VG: “Whatever is happening in that science class, they are on the right track,” she said.
These students along with other finalists from the Diocesan School for Girls, Port Alfred High School and Kwa-Komani Comprehensive School, will represent Grahamstown at the national contest in September.
The twin sister finalists Jacqui and Lauren James said that this will be their third time competing at the nationals and they hope this is the year they win.
“We present the same study but we have to upgrade it a lot for nationals,” said Lauren James. “It’s a mixture of excitement and hard work”.
From a young age the sisters have had a keen interest in science.
“If you choose a project that you like then you will put more effort into it,” said Jacqui James. “I always do projects that I’m interested in and that helps me make more progress”.
Lauren and Jacqui, in grade eleven now, aim to study Life Sciences at Rhodes and will have the advantage of the R45 000 bursaries awarded to the top five Expo finalists.
Victoria Primary School teacher, Anita Sonne said that she encourages her students to take part in the Expo as it means they can cover work which is “over and above” what is taught in the curriculum.
Fourie noted that the fact that several of the finalists who had won this placement before proved that it was not “all about winning” but rather “trying again, getting better, getting to go to nationals and having a great time”.
“Looking at the projects this year what is great to see is that the students are really trying to think outside of the box,” said Fourie. “Gone are the days when they were comparing which nappy was the most absorbent. There is a lot of thought about the sources of the socio-economic problems we have in South Africa and we really need that."
Odwa Simayile, from Ntsika High School, won the SAEON Special Award for his project on how best to utilise rain water to flush toilets.
“I chose this project because we have a water crisis in Grahamstown and when there is no water businesses close and children don’t go to school,” said Odwa. “It’s quite encouraging to try and find solve the problems within our community and whether you win or lose you have tried your best”.
Although there were some categories for which the moderators felt there weren’t any entries which deserved an award, moderator Leonardo Goosen said that the projects showed a marked improvement from the previous year.
“We certainly have more gold winners this year than last,” said Goosen.
The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists is South Africa’s primary and only existing science fair for school students where they can display their own scientific investigations. Grades five to twelve can compete in over 25 categories ranging from Pure and Applied Science to Technology, Engineering or Computer Science projects.
Senior Manager of Customer Services at Eskom, Zundi Hamza, opened the awards ceremony with a quote from Benjamin Franklin stating: “investment in knowledge pays the best interest”.