Oliphant Science Awards trophy for lemon-fresh floral experiment
CAN lilies survive longer with lemons? That very question has helped a Glenunga International High School student take out the top gong in the Oliphant Science Awards 2018. SEE THE LIST OF ALL THE PRIZE WINNERS.
A FRESH approach to science showing lilies last longer with lemon has won top prize in the state’s biggest science competition for school students, the Oliphant Science Awards.
Glenunga International High School Year 12 student Sabrina Lin, 16 won the Oliphant Trophy for her experiment using lemon juice to extend the vase life of the oriental lily, Lilium Casa Blanca.
She said the competition fuelled her passion for science and the prize gave her pride in her work.
“It feels like something I have worked quite hard for has actually paid off, I have produced something that is actually quite useful,” Miss Lin said.
“If people read my paper they can learn this useful trick, it's simple but also it's scientifically proven.”
Miss Lin tested different concentrations of lemon juice in tap water and found a relatively low concentration (0.5 per cent, or 0.5ml of lemon juice in 100ml of water) was optimal.
“The flowers with lemon juice did in fact last longer and had a longer blooming time,” she said.
“They bloomed a bit faster but also wilted at a slower rate.”
Lemon juice was considered likely to prolong the vase life of flowers by reducing bacterial growth while also providing a source of nutrients.
Miss Lin said her study provided an incentive to investigate the benefits for other species of flowers and perhaps plants such as vegetables.
Floral designer Ivett Szivos from Executive Flowers on Hutt Street gives customers a sachet of “food for cut flowers” containing sugars and other nutrients.
Originally from Hungary, she has used lemon in the past.
“I used to make arrangements where I would slice the lemon up and put it in the vase with the flowers,” she said.
“I heard it makes the flower last longer.”
Awards convener Peter Turnbull said a record 2987 students at 107 schools entered this year’s competition and “there were many outstanding entries across the nine Oliphant Science Award categories”, but Sabrina’s Science Inquiry investigation ultimately won the top prize.
“The judges were particularly impressed by her capacity to plan and successfully conduct a rigorous scientific investigation into a personal question, to then analyse and interpret the data, and then to effectively communicate her findings,” he said.
“Her investigation was very well researched, planned, conducted and communicated, and she is a most deserving winner of our 2018 Oliphant Science Awards trophy.”
2018 OLIPHANT SCIENCE AWARD WINNERS
Computer Programming and Robotics
R-2
1st Prize — Samuel Lawrence & Liam Curtin, Grange Primary School — Playing with Dogs
2nd Prize — Jackson Burford, St John’s Grammar School — Junior School — Line Defender
3rd Prize — Anaaya Shah, Magill School — Robot that draws
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Harper Dalton, Immanuel Primary School — The Future of Cars
2nd Prize — Shamika Gorey, Grange Primary School — The Jungle Observer
3rd Prize — Emjay Peacock & Ollie Hack, Brighton Primary School — Robot Caterpillar
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Anthony Huynh & Aditya Ghai, Prince Alfred College — Sun Tracking Solar Panels
2nd Prize — Caleb Tang, East Marden Primary School — Smart Farm / Electric Farm
Year 8
1st Prize — Isaiah Ajaero, Concordia College — Coefficient of restitution simulator
2nd Prize- Toby Trenwith, Horizon Christian School — Home Made Car Alarm
3rd Prize — Savin Dissanayake, Glenunga International High School — Solar usage calculator
3rd Prize — Natalie Teasdale, Loreto College — Science When it Takes a Little Longer to Plan it
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Cameron Coggins, Emmaus Christian College — Sustainability City
2nd Prize — Dinan Perera, Prince Alfred College — Touch Sensitive Glove
3rd Prize — Heath Rampazis, Unley High School — Reaction time and Neuro-plasticity
Crystal Investigations
R-2
1st Prize — Chloe Lambden, Walkerville Primary School — Best Crystal Location
2nd Prize — Gabrielle Sun, St Andrew’s School — Crystal Investigation
3rd Prize — Autumn Loi, Walkerville Primary School — Crystal Investigation
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Sophie Chin & Nina Fox, St Andrew’s School — Crystal Investigation
2nd Prize — Stephanie Delgadinho, Grange Primary School — Crystal Investigation
3rd Prize — Willem Koehne, St Andrew's School — Crystal Investigation
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Matilda Alford & Gurleen Kaur, Walford Anglican School for Girls — The process of a crystal investigation
2nd Prize — Omar Haider, Mawson Lakes School — Crystal Investigation
3rd Prize — Fabian Bonifacio, Jaiven Palmer & Paul Choimes, St Michael's College — Crystal Investigation
Year 8
1st Prize — Amna Mateen, Unley High School — Crystal Investigation
2nd Prize — Chris Lin, Youssef Gerges & Ryan Lin, Glenunga International High School — Crystal Investigation
3rd Prize — Cy Rogers & Phuc Nguyen, Glenunga International High School — Effect of controlled heat on crystal growth
Year 9 -10
1st Prize — Andrei Hurr, Unley High School — Crystal Investigation
2nd Prize — Isabella Zacest, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Crystal Investigation
3rd Prize — Sonica Semwal, Jordan Zhao & James Yii, Unley High School — Crystal Investigation
Games
R-2
1st Prize — Alexander Smith, St Andrew's School — Termy Run
2nd Prize — Tobias Heidrich, Annesley Junior School — Element Races
3rd Prize — Andrei Chemutov & Ilan Storer, St Andrew's School — What a Disaster!
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Bridgette Nespolon, St Thomas School — The Brain Game
2nd Prize — Chloe Dalle-Nogare & Sienna Dalle-Nogare, Loreto College — Move and Stitch
3rd Prize — Caitlin Caunce, Scotch College — Bee Whizz
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Amelia Desteno, Lucy Langmaid & Sienna Manser, St John's Grammar School — Senior — All Science
2nd Prize — Max Lintern, St Thomas School — Elemental
3rd Prize — Isabelle Hewitson, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Stellar
Year 8
1st Prize — Georgia Chadderton, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Earth CPR (Catalysing Planet Recovery)
2nd Prize — Benjamin Cusack & Hamish Hunter, St John's Grammar School — Senior — Periodic Table Quiz
3rd Prize — Ashlee Stone, Myah Sandercock & Marni Porter-Wright, St John's Grammar School — Senior — Trip to Mars
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Phoebe Fielder, Mitcham Girls High School — Call the Butler
2nd Prize — Joel Ransom, St John's Grammar School — Senior — Warmer, warmer, warmer... boiling!
3rd Prize — Gemma Chirico & Anastacia Nadj, Mitcham Girls High School — Science
Year 11-12
1st Prize — Amber Washington, University Senior College — Chem-Mystery
2nd Prize — Patience Murungi, Yuming Zhang & Ivana Malbasic, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College — Structure of Cells
Models & Inventions
R-2
1st Prize — Eloise Powell, Grange Primary School — Inside the ear
2nd Prize — Ophelia Harding, Burnside Primary School — An alternative to rubber bands for Australia Post
3rd Prize — Zachary Summerton, Crafers Primary School — Model Bridge
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Imogen Byrne, Crafers Primary School — The Pipi Story
2nd Prize — Thomas Fang, Andrew Xu & Kyle Liu, St Andrew's School — Optic Fibres
3rd Prize — Jaden Weeks, St Thomas School — How the Eye Works
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Lian Mitchell, Concordia College — The Eggaggerated Scale
2nd Prize — Regan Nelson, Prince Alfred College — Dunnie
3rd Prize — Micho Milovanovic, Memorial Oval Primary School — Game Machine
Year 8
1st Prize — Harrish Raju Deepa, Pulteney Grammar School — Induction Car
2nd Prize — Thimitha Lamawea, Glenunga International High School — Aerodynamics
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Nazha Mohamed Nasmi, Mitcham Girls High School — The Pendulum Wave
2nd Prize — Joel Rajkowski, St John's Grammar School — Senior, Evolution of the Eye
Year 11-12
1st Prize — Steven Zhang, Glenunga International High School — Pantograph Wood Burner
Multimedia
R-2
1st Prize — Bryce Counsell, St John's Grammar School — Junior — How Does My Garden Grow?
2nd Prize — Caitlyn Cox, Virginia Primary School — Science Chef
3rd Prize — Winston Fan, Plympton Primary School — Sinking River
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Clara Mills, Bellevue Heights Primary School — Guided Tour of the Great Barrier Reef
1st Prize — Mia Fullerton, Glen Osmond Primary School — Out of this World
3rd Prize — Molly Liu, Indahla Rodosthenous & Renee Cheang, Highgate School — Different Animal Life Cycles
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Aidan Fahy & Blake Tourneur, St John's Grammar School — Senior — Chemistry
2nd Prize — Kajsa Huusom & Caitlin Miles, East Torrens Primary School — DNA report
3rd Prize — Zoe Economos, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Save the reef
Year 8
1st Prize — Grace Forbes, Walford Anglican School for Girls — A floating Milky Way: bioluminescence on beaches
2nd Prize — Hamish Anderson, David Hang & Daniel Vu, Adelaide High School — Regeneration
3rd Prize — Azada Karimi & Bella Ng, Glenunga International High School — Why is the sky blue?
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Dylan Worswick, Pembroke School — What's at Steak
2nd Prize — Scarlett Ferreira, Walford Anglican School for Girls — What's the best solution for keeping fresh flowers?
3rd Prize — Alaia Dhanji, Walford Anglican School for Girls — How does a cookie rise?
Photography
R-2
1st Prize — Liam O'Connor, Highgate School — Colours of the Earth
2nd Prize — Genna Harrison, St Joseph's School — Hectorville — Golden Ratio in Nature
3rd Prize — Robbie Rogers, Bellevue Heights Primary School — How do things grow?
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Lily Gosnell, St Thomas School — Colours of Earth
2nd Prize — Anika Hiriyanna, St Andrew's School — How do things grow?
3rd Prize — April Wright, East Marden Primary School — How do things grow?
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Elijah Bojcevski, Immanuel Primary School — Chemical Shapes
2nd Prize — Amelie Nespolon, St Thomas School — Colours of the Earth
3rd Prize — Karpagha-Vreksha Ramanathan, St John's Grammar School — Senior — Colours of the Earth
Year 8
1st Prize — Daniel Jung, Glenunga International High School — Colours of the Earth
2nd Prize — Mark Gul, Glenunga International High School — Golden Ratio in Nature
3rd Prize — Kaitlyn Liebelt, Mitcham Girls High School — The Golden Ratio
3rd Prize — Mya De Ruyter & Natasha Gunter, Unley High School — Colours of the Earth
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Josephine Oehler, Seymour College — Golden Ratio in Nature
2nd Prize — Sarah Burnett, Mitcham Girls High School — Colours of the Earth
3rd Prize — Bonnie Coventry, Mitcham Girls High School — Colours of the Earth
Year 11-12
1st Prize — Amber Washington, University Senior College — Colours of the Earth
2nd Prize — Syme Aftab, Glenunga International High School — Colours of the Earth
3rd Prize — Eliza Sprey, Glenunga International High School — Colours of the Earth
Posters
R-2
1st Prize — Eden Gannon, Westminster School — Superheroes of Science
2nd Prize — Benjamin Low, Immanuel Primary School — The Life of an Aluminium Can
3rd Prize — Jacob Tucker, Immanuel Primary School — Discovery of Penicillin
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Joshua Song, Pulteney Grammar School — Nanomaterials
2nd Prize — Isla Begg, Westminster School
2nd Prize — Caitlin Ward, Immanuel Primary School
3rd Prize — Sienna Jones, Mitcham Primary School — Sir Isaac Newton
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Isabella Rosser, Wilderness School — Recycling
2nd Prize — Stella Jolly, Wilderness School — The Science of Slime
3rd Prize — Caitlan Lim, St Aloysius College — Game changers in Science
Year 8
1st Prize — Grace Angley, St John's Grammar School — Senior — Recycling
2nd Prize — Leela Cotton-Kenny, Mitcham Girls High School — Recycling
3rd Prize — Rosie Thompson, Mitcham Girls High School — Agriculture
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Josephine Oehler, Seymour College — Superhero of Science — Louis Pasteur
2nd Prize — Isabelle Lilburn, Loreto College — Nanomaterials
2nd Prize — Madeleine Flapper, Loreto College — Superheroes of Science
3rd Prize — Jordan Thomson, Brighton Secondary School — Recycling
Science Writing
R-2
1st Prize — Chloe Lambden, Walkerville Primary School — Coral Reefs
2nd Prize — Nidhi Sinhal, St Andrew's School — Coral Reefs
3rd Prize — Umaira Nishad, Grange Primary School — Coral Reefs
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Annika Ganesh, Wilderness School — The Devil You Don't Know: Species Variation! The Science of Biodiversity
2nd Prize — Meher Elsa Raju, Burnside Primary School — Can the Great Barrier Reef be Regenerated?
3rd Prize — Priyanka Thavarajah, Seymour College — Can coral reefs be regenerated?
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Gunin Singhal, St Peter's College — Extreme epidemics over the years
2nd Prize — Zoe Glaros, Rose Park Primary School — CRISPR: Its impacts on 'Biotechnology'
3rd Prize — Nitin Kollakombil, Mitcham Primary School — Coral Reefs
Year 8
1st Prize — Aerin Westwood, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Influenza
2nd Prize — Heet Khara, Glenunga International High School — CRISPR- its impact on biotechnology
3rd Prize — Shreya Nidumolu, Glenunga International High School — Solutions to plastics pollution
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Madeleine Flapper, Loreto College — Gene therapy: the history and its applications
1st Prize — Taehan Lim, Glenunga International High School — Batteries of the future
3rd Prize — Jessica Bolzon, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Inside a spherical mirror
Year 11-12
1st Prize — Alexandra Stephenson, Eynesbury Senior College — From Space to Rooftop: The Story of Solar Cells
2nd Prize — Carla Ceravolo, Mary MacKillop College — CRISPR/Cas-9
3rd Prize — Chidiuso Ajaero, Concordia College — CRISPR-CAS9 and its uses in biotechnology
Scientific Inquiry
R-2
1st Prize — James Angeloni, Scott Creek Primary School — Counting Different Animals Using Scats & Sightings
2nd Prize — Caitlyn Cox, Virginia Primary School — The Science of Bread
3rd Prize — Benjamin Low, Immanuel Primary School — Effect of light and warmth on crystal growth
Year 3-5
1st Prize — Kara Heidrich, Annesley Junior School — How small do pixels have to be before you see one block of colour?
2nd Prize — Minami Doubell, Seacliff Primary School — Hydraulics
3rd Prize — Priyanka Thavarajah, Seymour College — How does colour effect how hot an object becomes?
Year 6-7
1st Prize — Rachel Hajek & Katie Story, Keithcot Farm Primary School — How Do Different Fertilizers Affect The Growth Of a Climbing Bean
2nd Prize — Charlotte McGeever, Black Forest Primary School — The Perception of Colour
3rd Prize — Emily Ho, Mawson Lakes School — Carbon Footprint of My House
3rd Prize — Twisha Srivastava, Mawson Lakes School — Five Second Rule
Year 8
1st Prize — Prathicksha Venkatesan, Walford Anglican School for Girls — Are any of the commonly used disinfectants effective against the gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa?
2nd Prize — Inika Weber, Wilderness School — A comparison of a restored and non-restored environment at Mawson Lakes
Year 9-10
1st Prize — Kaitlin Turland, Emmaus Christian College — Effect of Music on the Human Heart Rate
2nd Prize — Cameron Coggins, Emmaus Christian College — Teens, Screens and Dreams — An investigation into how screen time affects teenagers' sleeping patterns and alertness
3rd Prize — Ruby Sugars, Emmaus Christian College — Investigating Different Shades of Chroma Key Green
Year 11-12
1st Prize — Sabrina Lin, Glenunga International High School — Effect of Citrus lemon juice on the senescence of Lilium “Casa Blanca”
2nd Prize — Steven Zhang, Glenunga International High School — What is the effect of adding varying amounts of sodium hydrogen carbonate to Titebond II Premium Wood Glue
3rd Prize — Lauren Heddle, Urrbrae Agricultural High School — What is the response of a wetland to introduced water after a period of being dry?