Susan Fisher placed first overall in the Kipling School Science Fair with her project “Virtual Fencing”

By Lizz Bottrell

The Science Fair held at Kipling School on March 18 showcased many interesting projects. The wide array of displays ranged from electric vehicles to recycling plastic milk jugs to alternative cancer treatments - just to name a few.

Grade nine student, Susan Fisher, took first place overall at the science fair with her very impressive research into virtual fencing. Fisher tested the reliability of virtual fencing to keep cattle from wandering. “There was lots of wildlife so the electric fences were always breaking. We were always fixing fences,” said Fisher.

She wanted to come up with a better way to keep the cattle in that didn’t involve fixing fences all the time. Fisher found research conducted in Australia, where they put collars around the cattle’s necks that were connected to a transmitter, applying a series of vibrations and shocks when the cows came up to the fence. The problem here was the battery would die out so often that they’d have to round up all the cattle to change out the battery every week.

Fisher had the perfect idea to fix this problem. “I used a solar panel for the battery around the cow’s neck and for the transmitter,” said Fisher. During the day, the sun would charge the panel on the transmitter and on the collar around the cow’s neck, completely eliminating the need to change out the battery.

As for the fencing, since her sister rides the quad around the yard, Fisher laid the fence and covered it with snow. The fence included five correction zones - each with an increasing shock to force the cow to stay within its limits. The fence also includes a vibration zone, a warning zone, where the collar vibrates warning the cow not to go any further.

She tested the virtual fence for four days. During the first day the cow went into the shock zone eight times - but only up to the second shock zone. By the fourth day, the cow began to learn its lesson, only wandering into the vibration zone twice. “By the fourth day it knew where the territory was. He didn’t go into the shock zone cause he knew how much it hurt. He only went into the vibration zone,” said Fisher.

Fisher’s presentation included a well-organized display board with all the information she learned, a mock pasture with fencing set up on the ground - complete with miniature cattle, and videos showing how the cow reacted to the shocks and vibrations.

The collar works year round and causes no harm to the animal. “It stings for a moment - it just sends a warning they’re in danger,” said Fisher.

Julie Duke and Courtney Dayman’s project “Tsunami” stood out as a very intriguing project, winning them second place overall at the science fair. The grade seven girls researched into tsunamis and the cause and effect of tsunamis. “Tsunami’s can reach 1000 feet tall and move faster than a jet air plane,” said Dayman. “The islands and coastal areas could be most effected,” said Duke.

As many people may recall, on December 24, 2004, a terrible tsunami struck Indonesia. The tsunami, with a 9.3 magnitude, left over 220,000 people dead. The girls did a lot of research into this devastating event, including some very shocking photos with their display. They also showed graphs with the amount of deaths by tsunamis compared to other threats, such as the Sudanese war. The deaths by tsunamis towered over every other threat.

Duke and Dayman researched into what to do in case of a tsunami and their main finding was to head inland as soon as possible. Since tsunamis are essentially gigantic waves, some towering over city skylines, the best route to safety is to get as far away from the water as possible. Today, authorities issue warnings, giving people a chance to go inland before the tsunami hits.

One point the two really stressed was although many people die when the tsunami initially hits, many others die during the recovery phase from contamination of drinking water and malnutrition.

Another fascinating project was Kari Stefaniuk and Abby Hodgins’ research on West Nile’s effect on horses and humans. These two grade nine students felt very passionately about their project. Stefaniuk, who owns horses, became interested in the project because she wanted to know why there was a vaccine for West Nile for horses but not humans.

But they learned much more than that. “I’ve learned a lot of things I didn’t know before,” said Hodgins. “We found out that weather influences the breeding season of the mosquitoes,” said Stefaniuk. This means years with more precipitation brought more mosquitoes and thus more cases of West Nile - which is why the number of cases would drop one year and go back up the following year.

As for the horses, while the girls did their research they discovered that one of Stefaniuk’s horses was displaying the very same symptoms they were researching. “We never got him tested though,” said Stefaniuk. Unfortunately because the pain was too much on the horse, they had to put him down.

In horses, the West Nile virus can cause a brain infection, leading to death. However, in many cases, the owner can give the horse supportive care until he can manage the symptoms on his own. Owners can also give a once-a-year vaccine to help stop the virus from being transmitted in the first place.

At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Edmonds told the students to come up with a science fair project, giving them until now to complete the research. Many students put a lot of hard work into their projects, and it showed. Congratulations to all the students!

2008 Kipling School Science Fair results

Grade 7/8

1. Julie Duke and Courtney Dayman - “Tsunami”

2. Danielle Daku and Jordyn Harcourt - “DNA and Fingerprints”

3. Josh Hassler and Cody Floyd - “Electrical Vehicles”

4. Laci Rapp and Jayda Leduc - “Toothpaste: Crest vs. Colgate”

5. Shelby Lesiuk and Kelsy Miskiman - “Northern Lights”

Grade 9/10

1. Susan Fisher - “Virtual Fencing”

2. Natasha Ku - “Muscle Testing: Applied Kinesiology”

3. Kim Fargo - “Equine Dentistry”

4. Tyler Roy-Hampton - “Recycling Plastic Milk Jugs”

5. Rayne Kimery - “Biological Remediation”

Grade 11/12

1. Kayla King and Sara Fisher - “Keeping Away Unwanted Animals”

2. Dorothy Filpula - “Alternative Cancer Treatments”

Top 3 Overall

1. Susan Fisher - “Virtual Fencing”

2. Julie Duke and Courtney Dayman - “Tsunami”

3. Natasha Ku - “Muscle Testing: Applied Kinesiology”