All about science
Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik names science fair winners in Rankin
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
RANKIN INLET
Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik (MUI) held its annual science fair award ceremony before closing for the holiday break in Rankin Inlet this past week.
Grade 10 students Kyla Kent, left, and Precious Maningas took second place at the annual Maani Ulujuk Ilinniarvik Science Fair for their project, Methods of Preservation, in Rankin Inlet - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo |
The students with the top two projects earned the right to represent MUI at the 2016 Kivalliq Regional Science Fair at Tusarvik School in Naujaat from Feb. 26 to 29.
Qualifying for the regional fair were Grade 12 student Tiana Gordon and Grade 10 students Precious Maningas and Kyla Kent.
Gordon took first overall at MUI with her project on vitamin D deficiency in Nunavut, while Maningas and Kent took second with their work on the preservation methods of mummification, plastination and cryonics.
Senior high school science teacher Mark Pearson said this year's projects were on a par with those of 2014.
He said the top five projects in this year's fair were quite close in the judge's scoring, which has also been consistent during the past couple of years.
"That much parity in the top projects is encouraging to see," said Pearson.
"Some students really like science fair because they want to look further into their own ideas to do with science, as opposed to being told where to go and being guided in a certain direction.
"And some kids don't like it because they don't have an interest in the math sciences currently, so they're not really sure what to research or do.
"But once we find a topic they're really interested in, the majority of them take the ball and run with it."
Pearson said the senior students tend to excel a bit more at the science fair.
He said, on average, the older students usually earn the right to advance to the regional fair.
"There tends to be some really strong projects put forth when you get to the higher grades.
"That comes from experience because after they've done it in the lower grades for a number of years, they know what needs to be on the board and what's expected of them.
"A lot of kids don't really enjoy the research and summarizing part of it but, once we get to experimenting, they get really excited, start having fun and get into the projects a lot more.
"The science fair show is a highlight for a lot of the students because we can show some things we may not be able to in the classroom, like how to crush a can just by using water, and that's when they tend to get really interested in what you can do with science."
