HYDERABAD: Students of MS Education Academy bagged nine prizes in the 9th National Science Fair held in Chennai this month. The science fair was organised by Aaalim Muhammed Salegh College of Engineering and OMEIAT.
The school submitted 31 projects and won nine prizes. Their projects were made of low cost homemade materials.
Best air purifier
Ayesha Naseer, a Class VII student, worked on the ‘Air purifier plant’ project to find an easy and practical solution to keep pollution at bay. She conducted an experiment in a laboratory with four plants and four aquariums. The experiment showed that mother in law’s tongue plant, also known as snake plant or Saint George’s sword, is the best air purifier among the plants in the experiment. This plant with its low cost and maintenance can be effectively used in cramped spaces to bring in relief.
Natural insect killer
Deena Moin’s project titled Homemade insect killer was on similar lines. It aimed at getting rid of insects in the household. “My mother uses chemical insecticides to keep away insects. But I felt that it would pollute the air. So I tried mixing fresh ground red chili powder, turmeric and paste of fresh garlic with a little ater and used for spraying in the areas infested with insects and pests. This method is a simple and safe method to ward off insects without chemicals,” she points out.
Clean and clear air
The idea put forth by Khalid Saifullah Wahab, a Class X student, uses certain scientific equipments such as honeycomb monolith filter, glass wool etc in a box to purify air. This purifier can be used at homes to purify air in indoor areas.This was done with the help of a teacher in the laboratory and it took a week for this project to work. “This kind of innovations may help in manufacturing cost and environmental effective air purifiers for claustrophobic patients,” he says.
Total internal reflection
Class VIII student, Noorain Nafees, came up with a project titled Total Internal reflection. This is a project she took up with the help of her teacher. She says this project was inspired by a lesson in her biology class on adulterated milk. This is done in the laboratory using scientific approaches and empirical calculations. This finding has helped her check the purity of any substance in the liquid form. She says we can use this method to check the purity of everyday essential commodities like milk, cooking oil etc. Although it is a bit complicated a method with two weeks needed for her to wrap the project up, this can be a beginning to test adulterated food in our own kitchens.
The projects of Bushra Khanam, Noorain Nafees and Khalid Saifullah won first prize under environmental science and physical science category.
The projects of Leen Waddah Saleh, Sulaim Sultan, Mohd Akram and Ayesha Naseer won second prize under life science, environmental science and physical science category.
The projects of Sheema Fatima and Deena Moin won third Prize under environmental science category.