Rotary Club’s Ken Guiste hands over the “Best Show” prize to Zacharie Caudeiron of
St Ignatius Catholic School.

On Saturday, 19 April, the annual School Science Fair took place at Cayman Prep High School on Walkers Road under the auspices of the Rotary Club.

The aim of the Science Fair is to increase the awareness of science amongst the middle and high schools in the Cayman Islands and to get young student scientists excited about science as well as having an overall sense of achievement.

The participating students put together projects covering life sciences, physics and chemistry, computer science, earth sciences and Food/Health on subjects such as “How does the molecular structure of an egg affect it’s strength”, “Simple carbon dioxide reduction”, “Building an autonomous home patrolling robot” and “Evaluation of exercise and brain stimulation”.

The guest speaker was Senior Manager in the Meteorological Office Fred Sambula who spoke about “The Formation of Hurricanes”.

The students’ enthusiasm was remarkable and it was encouraging to note their active and keen role in the sciences, according to organisers.

Prizes were awarded in five categories and cash prizes were CI$3,000 for first place, and CI$2,000 and CI$1,000 for second and third place, respectively. These monies will be held in an interest- bearing trust and made available when the student enters college. Some students who win over several years with repeat entries could then accumulate a tidy sum to help them with their college fees.

There were a number of repeat winners this year including John Gracey, Joshua Dikau and Michael Sun.

This year the “Best of Show” prize was a laptop computer donated by Cable & Wireless and was won by Zacharie Caudeiron from St Ignatius Catholic School.

Corporate Sponsors this year were A.L Thompson’s Home Depot, Evans & Associates Ltd, Electra-Tech, CUC, 107.1, Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, Signs of Paradise, Cable & Wireless, Cayman Airline Pilots Association, Water Company, Caribbean Network Solutions, Dart Management Ltd, Crusader International Management (Cayman), Andro Group, Cayman National, Ropers and Cayman Net News.


Student Science Fair 2007 - 08 Winners:

Computer science:
1st prize John Gracey (GCA)
Building an autonomous home patrolling robot

Earth Sciences:
3rd prize Gregory Davis-Quintero (Leading Edge)
A model of the solar system
2ndprize Charlie Lancaster & Oleksander Martiuk (CPHS)
Earthquakes and their measurement
1st prize Collin Long (CIS)
Simple carbon dioxide reduction

Food/health:
2nd prize Shenaye Ebanks & Gabriel Mendosa-Hydes (GCA)
To determine if chewing gum alters oral bacteria
1st prize Nadeska Concha (St. Ignatius)
Evaluation of exercise and brain stimulation

Life Sciences:
3rd prize Gino Bush (GCA)
Can plants grow without soil ?
2nd prize Mariah Wilkinson & Jhnae Braun (GCA)
Teenage pregnancy
1st prize Zacharie Caudeiron (St. Ignatius)
An analysis of pond water

Physics/Chemistry:
3rd prize Joshua Dikau (GCA)
A study of salt vs. fresh water corrosion
2nd prize Brandon Johnson (GCA)
A study of eggshell structure and strength
1st prize Michael Sun (St. Ignatius)
Construction of a working hovercraft

Best of show prize: Zacharie Caudeiron (St. Ignatius)
An analysis of pond water

Notes:
* first prize $3,000; second $2,000 and third $1,000
* prize monies held in trust until student enters college or equivalent
* school names in brackets after winners name GCA = Grace Christian Academy,
CPHS = Cayman Prep & High School, CIS = Cayman International School
* ‘Best of Show’ prize is a laptop computer donated by Cable & Wireless