Science Week 2018 - Exploring Science, Technology and Science Innovation

“Innovation is the change that unlocks new values” was the central theme in 2018 Science Week, which was held from 7th Wednesday to 9th Friday in February. Our young learners inquired and explored various challenging questions during this week as the stepping stone for any discovery is asking questions – many questions.

Science Week projects, poster work and novel experiments presented many opportunities for enthusiastic learners to explore different concepts of Sciences. All the KS3 students threw themselves into creating individual posters on what does innovation means to them. This Art project created a wave of discussion on various concepts on innovation in class rooms which was showcased how erudite our young learners are.

Science Week had a great start from the Stem Club which presented some intriguing concepts to the audience. This was followed by students conducting various experiments in their Science lessons for the next 3 days. Making elephant tooth pastes, making magic wands, lava lamp, magical flames, various dissections on organs, hydroponics, DNA extractions from bananas and making various paints and using them to create their own art work.

One of the main highlights of the Science Week was a lecture done by Prof. K. M. Nalin de Silva who is a Senior Professor in Chemistry at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, who obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK. Presently he is working as the Science Team Leader in Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC). His opened a plethora of ideas on “the importance of being innovative” and linked this with the world problems that we are facing currently. He also set a spark in our young scientist to think, create and to be confident to find solutions the problems that the world face such as clean water, food and the energy crisis.

The students put these ideas into practice in the fun experiments we had throughout the Science Week. Student learnt methods of cultivating crops without soil and using the minimum space in hydroponics. They made their own hydroponics units, which they can even grow vegetables and fruits in a limited space like an apartment. Student also learnt different methods of making pigments and paints and made their own oil paint which can be linked with cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Students also watched videos and discussed about metamaterials and their applications as our young learners were intrigue and inspired by Prof. K. M. Nalin de Silva’s lecture on being innovative and how be invisible! DNA extraction from bananas was another highlight in the Science week. For any medicinal discovery for diseases, understanding diseases and finding a novel cure always starts with understanding the DNA structure of the organism, bacteria or virus. Students had a hands on experience on methods of extracting DNA and on methods of how to analyze them.

Science Week always provides an opportunity to our young learners to expand the learning horizons and realize the true potential that they carry to become one of the greatest explorer, scientist, researcher or humanitarian and to become their best version.