Ready for the regional
Tusarvik set to host Kivalliq science fair with strong entries
Darrell Gree
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
NAUJAAT
Tusarvik School held its annual science fair this past week, taking the next step toward hosting the Kivalliq Regional Science Fair in Naujaat this coming new year.
Grade 12 student Ben Jr. Malliki goes over his project data on Distracted Drivers before taking first place overall at the Tusarvik School Science Fair in Naujaat this past week. - photo courtesy of Julia MacPherson |
Grade 12 student Ben Jr. Malliki took top spot at the Tusarvik fair with his project, Distracted Drivers.
This was the second time Malliki presented the project, having adapted and perfected it from this past year.
It was a lengthy process for the Grade 12 student to collect data, having to test numerous drivers dealing with distractions such as texting, eating, talking on the phone and putting up with a loud passenger while driving.
Teacher Jenni Chicarella has spearheaded the Tusarvik fair for the past few years, and said every class from kindergarten to Grade 12 was involved in this year's event.
She said the overall quality of a number of the projects showed a marked improvement from those entered in the past few years.
"Overall, we had about 32 projects in the high school division of grades nine to 12, and about 20 projects in the kindergarten-to-Grade 8 division," said Chicarella.
"Following Ben's (Malliki) first overall on Distracted Drivers were Benoit Sateana and Veronica Ussak's Bacteria Growth, and Jennifer Tungilik and Susannah Mablik's Which Has More Calories.
"All three will be entered into the regional fair.
"You're normally only allowed four students per school in the regional fair but we're hoping to be allowed one extra because of having five students involved with our three winning projects."
Chicarella said she was very pleased by the calibre of many of this year's projects, especially in the senior grades.
She said students usually spend about three or four weeks working on their projects before the fair.
"Many of the students just work on their projects while in class, but others, who are really interested, stay after school to work more on theirs.
"From the feedback we've received, the other Kivalliq schools are happy Tusarvik is hosting the regional fair and they're exciting about coming to Naujaat.
"Our students look forward to participating in the science fair, and they're really excited about our school hosting the regional fair this time.
"Our two top projects are ones the students have done before, and they've really improved them this time, so we're hoping we can pull off a win in the regional fair."
