Students of Region Four demonstrated their ingenuity as the Region Four Department of Education wrapped its biennial science fair yesterday at the Diamond Secondary School.
A total of 75 schools between Moblissa, which is on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway and Cane Grove, on the East Coast of Demerara, showcased their work during the two-day event.
The fair was held under the theme “Enhancing traditional technologies to sustain modern society through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics [STEM].”
Students were encouraged to identify an issue facing their school and use STEM to come up with a sustainable solution.
This year’s entries saw creative recycling of plastic bottles as well as glass bottles, which were transformed into Christmas trees, chandeliers and a greenhouses for plants. One school even displayed how to prevent the Zika virus in homes and in the work place, while another school displayed an air conditioning unit made out of a small fan, a few pipes, and a bucket of ice.
Coordinator of the science fair Loren Parks said even though the children have come up with creative ideas that speak to the environment and have found a way in which they can recycle their bottles, not much creativity was seen as it relates to the physical sciences.
Parks pointed out that it may not be a Region Four issue but a national issue, since items used to create certain things are very expensive. He said this is one of the aspects of the fair that needs improvement. However, he said the fair had been a success and the children as well as the teachers have learned a great deal of things through the educational booths that were put up by the schools.
This year the fair was opened up to the nursery and primary school students. Parks said the reason for this is because the Department of Education has realised that it may have been restricting the nursery and primary age groups from learning about the sciences although they are at stages where they are curious and will begin to appreciate the sciences.
A few of the winning schools at the science fair were Prospect Nursery, Annandale Primary and President’s College, which won for best overall project.
