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Japan Super Science Fair Profile: Chelsea
Shawnigan has a long-standing relationship with the Japan Super Science Fair, hosted by Ritsumeikan Junior and Senior High School in Nagaokakyo City, Kyoto. The School has participated in the highly regarded student science fair for the last 11 years, a streak that no other Canadian school can match. Six students and one staff member will be travelling to Japan this year for the fair that runs from October 31 to November 6, joining their peers from 55 schools in 20 countries.
Chelsea L. took inspiration from Quamichan Lake in nearby Duncan for her project, “The Application of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Bioremediation for Excessive Phosphate in Lake Water,” or, in simpler terms, testing baker's yeast as a way to remove phosphates from water.
“I’m very passionate about environmental science,” Chelsea explained. “The environment is a very relevant issue, something I believe we should be thinking more about.”
Chelsea wanted to see if baker’s yeast would be an effective way to lessen the concentration of phosphates in eutrophic lakes – lakes where a rich amount of nutrients, such as phosphates, leads to excessive growth of plants and algae, which depletes oxygen and causes acidification, which can harm other aquatic life.
She sampled water from Quamichan Lake, which has had water quality issues for decades. She actually had to add extra phosphate in order to get the proper measurements for her experiment with the level of phosphates in the lake, although she noted that didn’t have an impact on the results.
Chelsea dissolved baker’s yeast into sugar water, then added that to the lake water samples. Over 48 hours, she filtered the samples at regular intervals, then worked with a professor at the University of Victoria to use an ion chromatography system to measure the concentration of phosphates in her samples.
The experiment yielded the results Chelsea was looking for, finding that the yeast actually did decrease the concentration of phosphates in the samples by a significant amount. Chelsea also measured the pH of the lake water over the course of the experiment, because yeast respires and creates CO2 which can alter the pH of the water, but at the end of the experiment, there wasn’t a significant change in pH.
Chelsea is anticipating the trip to Japan – she hasn’t been to the country or the JSSF before.
“I’m looking forward to interacting with other students, and sharing my findings, which is something I’ve never done before,” she said. “I’m also excited about the culture of Japan – I’ve heard they have really good food.”
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Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
