Science Olympians Chantelle Giroday (front) and Evan Digby were among the Vancouver Island senior high school students competing in the 10th annual Science Olympics competition, hosted by UVic and held this year at the Royal B.C. Museum in conjunction with the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.
In the physics competition shown here&emdash;dubbed "Ficticia da Vinci"&emdash;students had to figure out how Leonardo's imaginary daughter was able to make a container filled with air move vertically up and down through water. A beaker of liquid is placed on a heating tray. Salt added to the water keeps the heated water close to the bottom of the beaker, while ice cools the top layer of water. With the right combination of heat, salt and ice, a small, air-filled vessel will oscillate between the top and bottom of the beaker.
Physical oceanographer Dr. Chris Garrett of the school of earth and ocean sciences coordinated the physics competition. Overall organization of Science Olympics is overseen by physics professor Dr. George Beer, with lots of help from UVic volunteers and area high school teachers.
Participants also test their skills in biology, chemistry, engineering and astronomy. More than 800 students have taken part since 1988.