Stephen Hawking inspires San Andrea School science project

This is the sixth consecutive year that San Andrea Senior School, l-Imselliet. limits of Mgarr, has organised the annual educational initiative called the Stephen Hawking Science and Technology Project.

This activity is intended to help students understand that besides being examination subjects, the sciences should be interesting and useful areas of discovery and learning that lead into the technological world around us.

Professor Hawking's achievements, and his admirable determination against all physical odds, to reach his goals and pursue his studies and research, are attributes that I believe should be brought to the attention of all students.

His best-selling books A Brief History of Time, and recently A Briefer History of Time, give a new understanding not only of life around us, but also of the whole universe. The study of some aspects of the universe has now also been included as part of the MATSEC syllabus. Professor Hawking's first publication stirred some quiet waters in the literary and scientific worlds as it managed to bring science to the public in a very simple and attractive way.

Objectives

Certification is naturally as important as ever in the local educational scenario, but by this annual extra-curricular project, we try not only to target immediately the understanding of science in everyday applications, but we also encourage all students to bravely plunge into doing a real science project irrespective of what they think of their capabilities.

In previous years the activity was organised to culminate in an exhibition during a Science and Technology Week. This year, a very successful Science Soirée was held during which students showed practical scientific activities and experiments to parents and visitors alike.

The science and technology teachers put in a lot of hard work into these scientific projects. We all know the benefits students reap from these unique opportunities.

The project is organised with the following main objectives in mind:

• to trigger and increase in the student an interest to discover the physical principles and laws that govern the world around us;

• to encourage and build important skills;

• to introduce our students to disciplined learning systems and information analysis;

• to increase students' self-esteem, encourage them to discover their hidden talents, develop many skills and stretch to a maximum their natural abilities;

• to be in line with the spirit of the National Minimum Curriculum in Malta.

Organisation

The activity is a compulsory event for all Grade 11 (Form 4) students, held over a scholastic year before they sit for their O-levels. Students are asked to work in groups and present work in three areas of assessment, namely, a written and researched assignment, a public viva-voce presentation on a chosen topic, and finally the preparation and use of visual aids, audio-visual resources, 3-D models, experiments and all other means to show their understanding of the topic.

Seminars and discussions are held as an extra-curricular activity during the midday break. The final presentations are held in the presence of the parents themselves and an independent adjudicating panel. This year the judging panel was composed of Dr Paul Pace and Dr Josette Farrugia from the University of Malta, and Charles Sammut, a Science EO at the Education Division.

The school administration generously offers the group obtaining the highest number of marks return air tickets for an educational trip abroad. This year the activity was partly sponsored by Millers Distributors and KRS Film Distributors.

A couple of years ago Professor Hawking himself provided the high point of the educational trip abroad when he kindly agreed to meet the students.

That was an unforgettable encounter and it was a joy listening to Professor Hawking telling me through his computer: "I am glad to be useful to Science in Malta".

Some topic titles

Topics tackled this year included the Solar System and the Universe, Satellites, the Big Bang, biotechnology, nanotechnology, printers, electric motors, magnetic levitation, forensic sciences, mobile phones, pollution, joints in the body, the Internet, MRI, sphygmomanoters, the plasma screen, air-conditioning and many other topics that show the intrinsic curiosity and quest for knowledge in our young students. The diversity of subjects stresses the importance to create a framework within which students can develop their own skills.

This year the winning team was made up of Nicole Fenech Conti and Gillian Pace Moore, who investigated plant propagation.