NAUJAAT
More than 30 students and teachers from across the region joined their science-loving counterparts for the annual Kivalliq Regional Science Fair at Tusarvik School in Naujaat earlier this month.
Grade 12 student Ben Jr. Malikki of Tusarvik School took top prize in the annual Kivalliq Regional Science Fair in Naujaat - photo courtesy of Matt Thompson |
The event, which ran from March 19 to 21, saw Grade 12 student Ben Putulik of Tusarvik School take top spot for his project on distracted drivers.
Grade 12 student Veronica Uttak, also of Tusarvik, took second place for her efforts on how cold affects bacteria growth, while the Grade 12 tandem of Hattie Pameolik and Amber Kadjuk of John Arnalukjuak High School in Arviat took third place for their project, Syphilis is on the Rise.
Putulik, Uttak and either Pameolik or Kadjuk will now advance to the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Montreal, Que., from May 11 to 16.
Kivalliq Science Educators Community co-president Kelsey Nickel of Arviat said Tusarvik was a very welcoming school in hosting this year's event.
She said almost every staff member at the school was involved in the science fair in some capacity.
"They built all the back boards for the projects, school principal Aubrey Bolt was a judge and vice-principal Julia MacPherson was in charge of making a whole bunch of food for the banquet," said Nickel.
"Many other staff members were involved in either making food or running programs throughout the weekend."
Nickel said the fair's top-five projects were very close.
She said after fifth place, the overall calibre of the projects dropped a bit.
"Ben Putulik had very strong interview skills and that's what really stood out in him becoming winner of the senior division," she said.
"The other students also had good interviews but they just weren't up to Ben's level. Overall, this year's projects were slightly lower than the past year. We rate the science of the projects at different levels from one to four, with four being very rare and, this past year, there were more projects rated in the three area."
This year's fair marked the first time in the past 13 years a student from Victor Sammurtok School in Chesterfield Inlet didn't place in the top three projects.
Nickel said the students who will represent the Kivalliq at the national science fair are a strong group overall.
She said all three projects are quite strong in their Northern relevancy content.
"All of our winning students are in Grade 12 and will be graduating this year, and you could tell they all really wanted this. They're all planning on improving their projects before the Canada-Wide Science Fair happens, so it will be interesting to see how they fare at the fair.
"This year's was really a great fair, and it was good to see the host school win the top two prizes because there were a lot of people there to help celebrate with them.
"We like to rotate the fair around the region every year and in 2017 it will be Victor Sammurtok School in Chesterfield Inlet's turn to host the Kivalliq Regional Science Fair."
