12 Jun 2019
Students from the British International School of Stockholm in Sweden have won the Cambridge Upper Secondary Science Competition for the Europe region.
The winning team’s entry was one of 30 in the region and involved an investigation into the use of solar tubes to reduce energy usage in school.
David Lally, physics teacher at the school, said: 'The competition was a really worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience for our students. Not only did they get to see a project through from creation to communicating it to others upon completion, but it was also one they could feel complete ownership of.
'It was an excellent opportunity for our students to take part in true science, with all its frustrations along the way, demands on long-term teamwork, and rewards at the end when they could display what they had learned about the world around them.'
The winning team featured Mathilda, Maud and Erik (pictured above).
'Overall I found the competition both fun and challenging,' said Mathilda. 'We came across many problems and had to change things along the way so I also learnt a lot. Taking part also challenged our teamwork and time managing skills which are both very useful for the future.'
Team-mate Maud added: 'I learned a lot from being able to design my own investigation. Writing a scientific report was also something I’d never really done before so that was also a learning experience that I think will be very useful.'
'Another thing we practised when participating in the competition was teamwork skills and I think I also improved as a team member. Overall I really enjoyed this project.'
The school received a letter of recognition celebrating the success, and every team member received a certificate and medal.
The overall international winner of the competition was a team from Jayshree Periwal International School, India, in the South Asia region, who put together a project entitled 'Live or Dye? Negative impacts of synthetic dyes'. The project was an investigation into the effect of synthetic food colour dyes on the respiration and growth of yeast, a subject directly relevant to the everyday lives of the students.
The expert judging panel included Dr Helen Eccles, ex-Director of Cambridge International and Science Competition Lead, Dr Rachel Garsed, Senior Engineer at CMR Surgical, Dr Elaine Wilson, Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University and Dr Judith Roberts, Head of Cambridge Primary and Lower Secondary, Development, Cambridge International.