University of Auckland Science

Students from Belmont Intermediate School and Arahoe School were named the 2009 Science Quiz champions at the University of Auckland’s Incredible Science Day on Monday 6 July.

Incredible Science Day is a free, annual festival that introduces children and their families to the fun and excitement of science. The Science Quiz is a popular part of the event, with teams of four students racing against their peers and the clock to test their science skills.

The competition was divided into Year 5-6 (primary) and Year 7-8 (intermediate) age groups. Runners from each team raced across the University Recreation Centre, delivering a series of 20 questions to their team-mates and running their answers back to the marking desk, aiming to be the fastest team with the most correct answers in 20 minutes.

Heats ran throughout the morning to whittle down the field in each age group. The final saw teams lined up at both ends of the Recreation Centre, with supporters cheering from the mezzanine floor. The tension was high when the starting bell rang and children charged to the centre to pick up their first question. The competition went down to the wire, with teams having to choose whether to risk their final score by passing a question, or run down their time trying to solve a problem.

Belmont Intermediate School were the winners of the Year 7-8 event on the day, answering all questions correctly and completing the quiz well before the final bell. Coming in second and third place, also with all answers correct and finishing within a few minutes of each other, were the two teams from ACG Parnell College.

Arahoe School won the Year 5-6 event, answering all but one question correctly. Warkworth Primary School was placed second with 16 answers correct, and Kaurilands School third with 14 correct.

The quiz was just one part of an exciting and popular day, packed full of shows, displays and interactive presentations. Among the many other activities, children watched sculptures appear before their eyes at the glassblowing display, played with a miniature tornado in the physics lab, made DNA at the biology exhibit, played with coloured slime at the chemistry display, and had their faces scanned in 3D by computer scientists. Many earned Mini Degrees by answering questions about what they had discovered.

Filming for the Incredible Science website – www.incrediblescience.co.nz – took place throughout the day with presenter Matt Gibb of Studio 2 attracting his own crowd of fans and autograph hunters. A series of videos from the day, including coverage of the Science Quiz, will appear on the website soon.