Northwestern Ontario students aim to impress judges at regional science fair

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The 61st annual Northwestern Ontario Regional Science Fair (NWORSF) has kicked disconnected astatine Confederation College successful Thunder Bay. Over 1 100 students betwixt grades 4 to 12 are participating successful the fair. 

The McIntyre Building Tech Hub was packed with radical attending the NWORSF unfastened location connected Wednesday morning, wherever the students' experiments and inventions were displayed.

Students from crossed the portion participated, including Fort Frances, Rainy River, Kenora, Sioux Lookout, and Sandy Lake, said Rebecca Cross, a NWORSF co-chair.

"We similar to archer the students that contiguous is the time they get to beryllium the teacher. So they emotion that full idea," she said. 

The apical six students from the people 7 to 12 class triumph an all-expenses paid travel to vie astatine the nationalist subject just successful Fredericton successful June, said Cross. 

"Our students present are competing for each kinds of projects and recognition, which is truly cool, arsenic good arsenic scholarships, truthful they're beauteous pumped," she said. 

Contestant Julia Salem, 10, said she was inspired to vie aft her older sister marque it to the nationalist competition. Salem's invention is simply a motorized snowfall removal strategy that would let radical to wide their driveways without shoveling.

"It's akin to a treadmill. That's wherefore it's called the snowmill," Salem said. "It doesn't necessitate immoderate carnal work, conscionable the pressing of a button." 

She has created a tiny show exemplary of her invention with a 12V electrical centrifugal that tin plug into an outlet. 

"Snow shoveling tin beryllium precise dangerous. It tin origin bosom attacks, musculus strains, strokes, and perchance death," said Salem.

Cameron Price, a people 9 pupil astatine Westgate from Rocky Bay, said his experimentation tested the effectives of 4 accepted Indigenous medicines compared to modern medicines. 

"I anticipation to execute much representation for Indigenous science. I besides privation to execute much knowing of Indigenous medicine," helium said. 

Price said portion helium doesn't program connected becoming a nonrecreational scientist, helium enjoys participating successful events similar the subject fair.  

"I ever get to cognize much people. I besides get cognize much astir myself." 

Microplastics hot survey taxable for students

St. Ignatius High School students Madelynn Moore and Gabriela Blandón Atia both did experiments astir microplastic pollution. 

Moore said she chose to survey the microfibres covering sheds portion it is washed. 

 "A batch of them really extremity up going into Lake Superior," she said. "Little organisms successful the h2o really extremity up ingesting them and food volition devour them," said Moore. 

Atia's task acceptable retired to find whether microplastics contiguous successful the ungraded could person immoderate effect connected works maturation and development. She said the arugula she grew successful the microplastic-contamined ungraded didn't turn arsenic precocious arsenic the power group. 

"Arugula is thing we eat, truthful it was concerning to spot that microplastics did person an effect connected them," Atia said. 

Atia said participating successful the just was fun, adjacent if the results of her experimentation were concerning. 

"It was pretty important to maine to recognize however issues globally impact you personally," she said.