BIG SCIENCE EVENT 2016 WINNERS
Friday 15th July 2016
Some of the region’s top young primary science prodigies have been battling it out to win the Big Science Event 2016 – a Science Oxford science competition in which primary school pupils carry out their own science investigations.
The Big Science Event aims to engage young people with science in new and exciting ways. Pupils form research groups in class and propose their own topic for investigation, for example ‘What brand of bubblegum stretches furthest?’ and ‘What liquid stays on fire for the longest duration?’ Each group must present their findings to an in-school panel of judges and an external judge from Science Oxford before being chosen to go forward to the Big Science Event final celebration. The competition is generously sponsored by Abbott Diabetes Care and Playforce, who provide the winning prize of £1500 worth of playground equipment.
The Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Final Celebrations were held at the end of the summer term after months of hotly-contested heats at over forty schools in each county. The teams in the finals gave presentations to The BSE 2016 judges, answered questions and displayed hand-made posters illustrating their findings. Investigations to make the final included the (Oxon) St Andrew’s Primary School team’s ‘What is the loudest instrument’ and (Bucks) Widmer End Combined School team’s ‘Which natural materials make the most waterproof lego house?’
Cathy Sturrock, Big Science Event organiser and our Head of Education, says; “It never ceases to amaze me how brilliant and creative these primary school pupils are. We had some fantastic investigation ideas and they were so well presented to the judges that they had a difficult job to choose a winner.”
But the judges did just that and the winners and runners-up in each county were:
Buckinghamshire
Winners – Holmer Green Junior School with their investigation into ‘Does the make of a balloon affect the strength?
Runners-up – St Nicholas C of E Combined School, Taplow and Widmer End Combined School
Oxfordshire
Winners – West Oxford Community Primary school for their investigation on ‘Does the temperature of a ball affect its bounce?’
Runners-up – Haddenham Community Junior School, Orchard Meadow Primary school and Stanford in the Vale Primary school
If you’re interested in getting involved in The Big Science Event 2017 you can read more here.
Photo: The Oxfordshire final winners from West Oxford Community Primary School celebrate with judges and colleagues from Abbotts Diabetes Care
