Cape Town - An energy-efficient house and insulation for informal housing were among the projects Cape Town pupils entered in this year’s Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, with many entrants choosing to focus on ways to address social issues.
During the Cape Town regional finals, 31 gold medals and several other awards were won by top young scientists.
Regional director Olga Peel said 380 entries from 43 schools were received. Many of the projects would be beneficial for communities.
“Our aim is to get young people passionate about science.”
All 31 gold medal winners will progress to the International Science Fair, which will be held in Boksburg, Gauteng, in October.
Ziyaad Bawa, a Grade 10 pupil at Bishops, won the Kevin Rochford Memorial Prize for the best project in the senior food sciences, food technology and healthy eating category for “the enzymatic effect of bromelain and papain on animal protein”.
He said the project looked at how the enzymes bromelain and papain, found in pineapple and papaya, respectively, affected the mass of the lamb samples, the animal protein.
“My inspiration for the project was my grandparents, who all suffer from arthritis. Every day I see them using various gels and medications to alleviate the intense pain, but it doesn’t seem to work very effectively.
“After some research I found that enzymes had been used during tests in America to treat patients with inflammation and the tests were very successful,” he said.
Allegra Liltved, a Grade 11 pupil at Camps Bay High, whose focus was an energy-efficient house, won in the category for the best energy-efficient project.
“At every house I go to the air conditioner or heater is on and natural resources like sunlight and water are not effectively used in our house designs,” she said.
She investigated different factors that affected the energy consumption of a house, and the inverse design of the house’s roof helped to maximise water collection.
Cape Argus