“BRIDGING SCIENCE AND SOCIETY’
‘Bridging Science and society’ is this year’s theme for the annual National Science Fair organized by the Ministry of Education and which ended with a prize giving ceremony today at the Methodist Town hall.
The activity which ran over three days saw the judging of exhibits from both Primary and Secondary schools covering areas from robotics, agriculture, manufacturing and App development among others.
The exhibition was staged on the ground floor for Primary school entries while the first floor saw several categories of entries all focusing on the theme ‘bridging science with technology’.
The first day, November 12 students’ work was displayed and judged. The following day was open to the public where parents, students and the general public were able to view the exhibition as well as questioning the students about the origins of their projects.
On Friday, November 14 a prize giving ceremony was held at the same venue.
Of particular interest was an application developed for Disaster management officials that gives shelter managers, warehouse managers and other senior NEMO officials the ability to manage relief supplies in real time to ensure that they are accounted for and that the supplies are delivered to the intended recipients.
Another exhibit of interest was the development of a wearable sweat patch that allows users to monitor the the loss of body fluids.
Other exhibits included the extraction of scents from flowers to make perfume, while others experiments showed how to make soap. Exhibitors from the Grenadines also showed how to farm sustainably, while other groups showed how to purify water using natural materials to filter impure water.
In the area of robotics a group of students designed a motorized vacuum cleaning device with proximity sensors. There were also displays showing how satellite communications work and for the health conscious a display on the use of traditional medicines including herbs in the control of hypertension.
The National Science Fair is coordinated by Mrs. Juanita King and a team of science teachers who were pleased with the diversity and quantity of exhibits.
This year 17 primary schools and 12 secondary schools participated in the National Science Fair, including exhibits from all Grenadine islands. According to the Education Officer for Science Education Mrs Juanita King, “I’m particularly pleased with the turn out from the Secondary schools on mainland and the support from the Southern Grenadines schools”, noting “excellent work and participation from all levels”.
