Year 10 Bell P-10 State School Students Emily Nixon, Sage Gleeson and Aaron Gleeson have been finalists two years running at the regional wonder of science competition.
Emiley and Sage were two of 10 female Queensland students invited to attend a special program at Avoid Island with all costs of the program covered through the Wonder of Science and Queensland Trust for Nature. They were assisted by Bell State School P&C for transport costs. The island is a privately owned research station for flatback turtles, located 30 minutes south east of Mackay. During their stay on the island, Emiley and Sage participated in activities including a beach clean-up, weeding Mossman River burr, checking nests for hatchlings, measuring, weighing and recording data before releasing them into the ocean. Emiley and Sage also learnt about other parts of the fragile ecosystem and the importance of keeping our beaches clean after locating a dead turtle in the water.
The girls reported they had a wonderful experience full of new things such as their first plane flights, seeing baby flatback turtles and large swarms of mosquitoes, and meeting new people from both other countries and our own. Sage says her enthusiasm for seeking a career in the field of Science has increased after participating in this program and Emiley will be looking at a career in Agricultural Science.
The third member of the Wonder of Science team, Aaron Gleeson, was invited to attend the Statewide Wonder of Science Conference in Brisbane at the end of 2018. Aaron’s career aspirations are to become an Upper Primary School Teacher.
