The 49th annual Canada Wide Science Fair was held at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario on May 15-23rd, 2010. Among the 460 exhibitors, who represent the top one tenth of one percent of students competing in science competitions across Canada, were four students exhibiting three projects from the Manitoba First Nations Science Fair (MFNSF). Two of the students representing the MFNSF made the awards podium at this event.

Raiden Cochrane, a grade seven student from Fisher River was recognized with an Honorable Mention award plus $100 cash, in the junior category, for his project “Squeaky Clean and Going Green”. In his project, Raiden developed several formulae for natural, environmentally friendly, home-made hand sanitizers using mixtures of spice oils. He successfully demonstrated through experiment that two of his formulae were more effective in preventing the growth of bacteria than commercially produced chemical sanitizers as well as soap and water.

Elijah Linklater, a grade twelve student from Nelson House won a Silver Medal plus $700 cash in the senior high category. In addition to this, Elijah also received scholarships from three universities: a Dalhousie University Faculty of Science scholarship of $2000; a University of Ottawa entrance scholarship of $3000; and a scholarship of $2000 from the University of Western Ontario. In his project “Cleaning up Oil Spills the Natural Way” Elijah designed experiments to test and demonstrate the ability of several natural materials to absorb and remove oil from water.

Also representing the MFNSF in Peterborough were Tara Brass and Leona Traverse, grade seven students from Little Saskatchewan, who did a joint project investigating the relationship between age, gender and blood pressure before and after exercise. While the girls did not make the awards podium at the national event, they presented very well and held their own in the largest category at the fair, Junior Health Sciences, which had over 40 entries. All four students made excellent ambassadors for the MFNSF and the MFNERC.

The achievement of our delegation this year represents three important milestones for the MFNSF program. While we have received six awards at the national level over the first six years of involvement – this is our seventh- Elijah’s silver medal is the highest level award we have received. This is also the first time that we have had more than one project recognized at the national level in the same year. Additionally, of the six delegations that represent Manitoba at the national level, the MFNSF was one of the only two with more than one recognized project. The silver medal plus $7,700 in awards achieved by Elijah also made him one of the two most recognized students from Manitoba this year.

While the performance of our students at the national fair is very impressive and encouraging, this represents only the tip of a growing iceberg of science, and in particular, project based science in our schools. The foundation upon which our national involvement is built is the broader MFNSF program, which continues to grow, thanks to the effort of a growing number of committed teachers and a growing skill set in the field.

Earlier this year, when our annual MFNSF was held at Red River College, 374 students from 29 First Nations Schools participated, with 54 achieving gold medals, 114 achieving silver and 206 receiving bronze medals of achievement. With the number of students achieving the gold and silver levels of excellence growing each year, the MFNSF program demonstrates steady growth in the overall standard of science education being achieved in our schools. Even more significant is the number of students being engaged in this program at the grass roots level. In reviewing the statistics collected annually by Youth Science Canada, describing the 102 regional science fairs which form the pyramid below the Canada Wide Science Fair, it is noted that the Manitoba First Nations Science Fair continues to be the single fastest growing fair in the country. Furthermore, the 400 student participants which we average each year represent only a portion of the approximately 1800 First Nations students who participate at the school level in Manitoba each year.

The MFNERC extends our congratulations and appreciation to: the students who represented the MFNSF so well at the national fair; the hundreds who participated locally; and the host of teachers, school administrators and Education Authorities who continue to support this program. As we look forward to the upcoming year, plans are already underway to extend the program to include more intense mentorship of senior high students, to re-involve the growing alumni of the program now in university; and to offer more scholarship opportunities at the MFNSF level. With the level of participation achieved to date and the sustained pattern observed, we have reached a critical mass which promises only continued growth and continued progress. The MFNERC looks forward to the day in the very near future when students and teachers from every First Nation School are involved in the program.

By Rudy Subedar

 

 Science Fair Photo Album

 

2010 Manitoba First Nation Science Fair

 

Tara Brass & Leona Traverse Grade 7, Little Sask. School