Five junior high school students represented Prince Edward Island at the Canada-Wide Science Fair last week in Windsor, Ontario, and three of these students were awarded national medals, says Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Alan McIsaac.

“These Island students had the opportunity to compete amongst the best young science and technology minds in the country and I congratulate them on their success,” said Minister McIsaac. “It is great to see students who are enthusiastic about science, because innovative thinking is an investment in our communities and in our future.”

• Shruthi Bandi, a Grade 8 student from Queen Charlotte Intermediate, received a gold in the Junior Division and received the Discovery Challenge Award for the Junior Division. Shruthi isolated and identified a number of soil micro-organisms and tested their anti-microbial properties against Staphylococcus aureas which may lead to the development of new antibiotics.

• Brenna Howatt, a Grade 8 student from Gulf Shore Consolidated, received a bronze medal in the Junior Division for her experiment related to distracted driving.

• Robert Larsen, a Grade 9 student from Summerside Intermediate, received a bronze medal in the Intermediate Division. Robert is a rabbit breeder and he determined the brand name of rabbit food that results in the most weight gain for young rabbits.

• Fred Chun, a Grade 8 student from Stonepark Intermediate, investigated a computer algorithm to decompose a piece of recorded music into the frequency signatures from the individual instruments.

• Hannah Hardy, a Grade 9 from Summerside Intermediate, investigated the optimal time for plowing, in the spring or fall, for improved soil nutrition.

“We can all be proud of the achievements of these five remarkable students,” said Dr. Bill Whelan, Chair of the PEI Science Fair. “Science fairs bring young scientists together to learn from their peers and practice critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills.”

The Canada-Wide Science Fair is the largest extra-curricular youth science activity in Canada. For more information, visit the website at cwsf.youthscience.ca.