GILSON College’s Annual Science Fair, sponsored by Australand’s residential land estate Watervale, recently brought together some of the school’s brightest minds — all in the name of science and community.
Primary and secondary school pupils from the Taylors Hills school presented the projects, prepared outside their regular school curriculum, for judging by Melton Shire Council mayor Justin Mammarella, Victoria University’s Dr John Orbell, George Kirkopoulos from Australand and two student judges and previous Science Fair participants, Chris Trood and Sitare Cenap.
Gilson College Principal Mark Vodell said this year’s fair was the best yet, with students showing innovation and ingenuity in their projects.
“The Gilson College Science Fair has become an exciting part of the school’s calendar and it is great to see so many of our students take their learning outside of the classroom to create some exceptional projects,” Mr Vodell said.
This year’s fair was divided into two categories: Primary and Secondary. Judges awarded prizes for first and second place, as well as three encouragement awards in each category.
The prizes were sponsored by Australand’s Watervale Estate and included a Special Mention award, which was won by Joshua Kolle, Carlos Lobos and Thomas Armstrong for their remarkable working model of a volcano.
The students involved in the community experiment were also acknowledged with prizes.
“Gilson College is Watervale’s closest neighbour, and once again we are proud to support their students in their desire to embrace and learn science,” Australand’s Victorian land manager, Peter Howren, said.
“The event is a positive initiative that gives students the opportunity to extend both their knowledge and creativity — and this is the reason that we have supported the event for the past four years running.
“The level of work we have witnessed today is testament to the hard work of the students and a credit to the involvement and support that the teachers give to their pupils,” he said.
In the primary school division environment was a key topic for budding scientists. Ramanan Kulajayenthiran won first place, for his demonstration study into the environment, while Jeeten Navani was second for his study on the effects of global warming.
In the senior division, Jane Le and Rahul Reddy won first place for their detailed analysis on the workings of the brain.
Emily Baxter and Thipsavanh Khammy won second place for their study into whether mice really love cheese.
Chris Trood, Sitare Cenap, Sharmilla Perinpanathan, Ngoc Do and Gustavo Recinos took part in the community project.
