By Admin. Updated 1:17 p.m., Saturday, November 11, 2023, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
The Dr. JP Eustace Secondary School – JPEMSS won two categories in the 2023 Ministry of Education – VINLEC National Science and Technology Fair.
According to the results, JPEMSS won the Physics category in the Upper Secondary Division with their project entitled – ‘Hot Ice’.
The students behind the Hot Ice project are Christopher Adams, Akeela Prince, and Joemealia Millington.
The school won the Chemistry category in the Lower Secondary Division with their project entitled – Invisible Ink.
The student behind the Invisible Ink project was Dezshonnie Cumberbatch.
The 2023 VINLEC National Science and Technology Fair was held from November 7 – 10, 2023.
The winnings are good news for the school which only recently got the use of a laboratory for the pure sciences in 2023.
The school also won categories in the Science and Technology Fair across several years including 2015 and 2019.
Head of the Science Department at the JP Eustace Ms. Sylicia Lynch told One News SVG on Saturday (November 11), that she is extremely proud of all the students who were selected to participate in the Science Fair.
“They shared how honoured they were to be able to represent the school and their work attitude throughout was very commendable.
I share the excitement of those who won in their categories,” she said.
“The students worked very hard on their projects. They were able to take a simple idea, make it their own and create outstanding projects. While doing their research, it was very satisfying to see how they were able to use their scientific skills and knowledge to apply the information,” Ms. Lynch said.
She said the school has entered and won awards in the National Science and Technology Fair before.
“Contrary to the general belief, our students have the capacity to learn and compete in Science on a national level. Also, we are very grateful that we now have more space in our fully-equiped lab which provides an environment to support the scientific endeavours of our students,” the science teacher said.
The school was founded in April 1952 by a scientist – the late Dr. JP Eustace.
The Projects:
The Hot Ice Project:
For the hot ice project, the students combined baking soda and vinegar to produce sodium acetate. It is commonly called hot ice since it resembles snow when it crystallizes to form it’s solid state. All reactants and products are non-toxic.
The students rationalised, based in the properties of the resultant product, that it will be a great insulator. They figured that it may be used to keep drinks cold if used as a sleeve around bottles. They also envisioned using it as in ice pack since the compound seemed to maintain low temperatures for a long time. The solid crystallized matter can be used to represent snow in decorations during the Christmas season.
The visible ink project:
The aim of the invisible ink project was to determine which materials can be used to make the most effective invisible ink. The results showed that baking soda when reacted with various pH indicators was the best.
The secret messages written on paper with the baking soda showed up clearly when exposed to the ‘developers’ I.e. the pH indicators. Natural indicators such as red cabbage and turmeric were used along with universal indicator and phenolphthalein.
Dezshonnie realised that the use of affordable, readily available, non-toxic materials for this project allows it to be also used safely by children for entertainment purposes. He was also intrigued to learn that the use of similar methods to communicate secretly many centuries ago helped to subdue enemy forces during wars.
Dezshonnie is very enthusiastic about his results and is working on a means to commercialize his project.
One News SVG 