INNISFAIL – Two Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) students represented their respective schools and the entire division very well at the recent National Science Fair in New Brunswick, division officials said in a press release.
Oceana Jones, a Grade 12 student at École Olds High School, and Claire Friesen, a Grade 9 student at Cremona School, attended the fair after each qualified earlier this spring at the regional science fair in Red Deer.
Friesen took home a bronze medal for her project related to aviation research. It was the third year in a row that she was awarded a bronze medal at the national level.
Her research project looked at changing the surface of an aerofoil – or airplane wing – and if by dimpling it, it might increase the lift.
“I found that one of the three designs I tested has a minor increase in lift. I found with the other two designs there was a substantial improvement in the level of stall,” she said.
“Also, dimpling helps with drag amount, increasing fuel efficiency.”
This year, Friesen was in the intermediate category for Grade 9 and 10 students. There were 180 awards available for 390 participants in her age category; she received one of 30 bronze medals.
Jones’s science fair project was called “Deceived: How Andrew Wakefield Tricked an Entire Generation.”
“Her research project was a deep dive into Andrew Wakefield and his now-disproved claim that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine given in childhood causes autism.”
She said, “I knew a little bit about him before this project, and wondered why everyone says his name. I wondered ‘what’s the deal’. It was fascinating to learn that he didn’t have the authority or research to make the claims he did.
“Also, Wakefield was being paid by a lawyer, who was working for an organization called JABS. It was also interesting to learn about the resulting media coverage his claim and the impact of that.”
Friesen hopes to become a pilot someday, while Jones might take a double degree in psychology and theatre.
The Innisfail-headquartered CESD has schools across the region.
