Science Fair 2018 Better Design for Sustainability

Social Awareness is a big part of an overall education that we give to students at ARIS (Hint: ARIS Cares!) In today’s Scientific, Technological and Development Discourse is to look at Sustainability, as Natural Resources are exhausted. Thus, the entire point of Sustainable Development is to make sure that not only our generation, but also generations to come have access to natural resources, to continue developing. We look at alternatives of using and exhausting natural resources, reducing and recycling the waste we put out into the environment and efficiently using the resources we have at our disposal.

The 2018 Science Fair at ARIS is in line with their theme of “Sustainability”, and has come up with various unique Projects that educate us and fill us with pride! The halls are decked with eager and enthusiastic students that have spent weeks coming up with sustainable alternatives and solutions to the ways that we contribute waste and overuse natural resources, even in our everyday lives!

Water is probably one of the most vital parts of all of our lives. So far, three groups in Years 7 and 8 have come up with 3 different projects around Polluted and Purified Water. purified naturally, and one group built a Water Filter without needing a source of electricity.

One group demonstrates two 15 liter bottles of water, one clean and one polluted (dirty) with plastic waste, they demonstrate how the clean water has marine life in it, while the polluted water has all of the waste that we put out to our environment that eventually gets disposed into the ocean, harming marine life (another big part of our ecosystem).

Often we think Electricity is the only source of Purifying Water. We are emitting even more into the world for the sake of Clean Water, which can be done with a simple alternative, according to one group in Year 7. They have used two beakers at different levels with an absorbent cloth dipped into both. The cloth is absorbing the dirt from the impure water at a higher level and leaking clean water into the beaker at the lower level.

Another group from Year 8 has made a DIY Water Filter by re-using the 15L Water Bottles that we put onto our Electronic Dispensers. They demonstrate their process of making it, and how efficient their Water filter actually is, leaving us in awe.

Most of us drive cars every day to get to one place from another. A group of students from Year 10 make us question the amount of Carbon Monoxide we emit into the environment and how harmful that is to our health. They have come up with a way in which Vehicles can use clean fuels – like Oxygen and emit Carbon Dioxide into the environment, which has a multiplier effect on all the Green that we would love to be surrounded with.

With regards to Electricity, one group shows us how we can source electricity from Natural Wastes that we put out, every day. It’s amazing how a little bulb lit up with the help of a Potato. Now, imagine if that could be done on a larger scale? Makes us question our options!

One group, from Year 7, made DIY Windmills out of Styrofoam cups, as they say that Styrofoam takes 10,000 years to decompose.

A group of Girls from Year 10, have also come up with cosmetic products like Gels, Foot Scrubs and more, by using Natural, healthy ingredients like Flax Seeds, Chia Seeds and Coconut Shells by extracting their oils and so on.

While all these Science Projects go on and awe everyone, ARIS has always been big on Art with a message! The hallways are decorated with Artwork by students that either use Recycled Materials or give us a clear message on how they would love the environment to be, a cleaner one. A pair of Year 8 girls have made beautiful home décor items, such as Mirrors, Vase, Pen stand and more, made entirely out of Toilet Paper rolls, Styrofoam, Wood and Plastic! They also made a huge waste-bin out of Plastic Bottles.

Another group has also done DIY Decorative Art Projects by using Plastic Bottles – soap, water, coke and so on. They have made beautiful Decorative bottles, Jewelry Boxes, Car, Planters, Christmas Tree and a Bird Feeder! An endless array of ideas and options to recycle the endless amounts of Plastic Bottles manufactured and inevitably used.

Other presentations were on the effectiveness of Biomass being a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly option as a better source of fuel to use. There were also presentations demonstrating Global Warming, one called “More Space to Breathe” advocating for Cleaner air, a student workshop on Recycling Plastic and more!

The major takeaway is spearheaded by a group of students from different years – Year 7, 8 and 10, who have put forward a message of – “Ban Plastic in ARIS”. A student led initiative that reinforces the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The efforts made in the name of Sustainability, does not have to be limited to the Science Fair, but our everyday actions in and outside of ARIS. They intend to work with Staff, Administration and the Student Representative Council to really work towards Banning Plastic in ARIS.

ARIS has been consistently working on how they can contribute to the environment, through sustainable solutions, recycling, and art and so on, and we could not be more proud. Let today be a take-away for you, to think of ways in which you can also contribute to a more sustainable environment. It only takes one!