2023 STANSW Young Scientist Awards Presentation Ceremony
Scientific Investigations Biology 9-10
Isla Costin , MLC School , Lettuce Light Up : Spectral Influence on Lettuce Growth . Evaluating LED Colour Profiles in Kratky Hydroponics for Enhanced Photosynthesis and Sustainability
Isla ’ s project investigated how different LED lights ( green , red , blue , white ) affected the growth of lettuce . The red LED light resulted in the tallest plants and the most leaves per shoot , whereas the blue LED resulted in the greatest leaf surface area , and the green LED had the greatest leaf nitrogen parameter . The results of this work could be of importance in hydroponics .
Sebastian Loke , Normanhurst Boys High School , Evaluation of the Optimal Storage Temperature of Preservative - Free Lubricant Eyedrop Vials after First Opening
Sebastian was curious as to whether storing eyedrops in the fridge or at room temperature impacted the shelf life , so he designed his experiment to achieve this aim . Interestingly , Sebastian determined that there wasn ’ t a significant difference between the two storage temperatures in terms of bacterial growth and that the user ’ s installing technique possibly plays a bigger role in bacterial growth .
Totoro Nakagawa-Lagisz , Sydney Boys High School , Unravelling the decomposition patterns across aquatic environments
Totoro designed two experiments examining how tea bags decompose in differing conditions . In the first a plethora of tea bags were buried in natural aquatic environments and in the second tea bags were subjected to controlled aquatic conditions . Totoro discovered that tea bags subjected to higher mineral concentrations and higher turbidity decomposed at a greater rate .
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