Research projects
Why do we laugh? What is Biomimicry? Can we colonise Mars? How do bees make honey? These are some of the questions asked - and answered - by pupils in Years 7 to 10, who presented their research projects at St Benedict's this week.
Over the Easter holiday, many pupils from Year 7 to Year 10 conducted research on a subject of their choice – ranging from the Trojan War to the Watergate Scandal - and produced research posters to illustrate their findings. Colourful, creative posters were on display in the Cloisters this week for everyone to enjoy, and each pupil presented their research on a huge variety of fascinating topics to their peers.
St Benedict’s pupils of all ages are encouraged to be intellectually curious and to ask questions. They are taught how to research topics in depth and to present their research, so that others can share in their knowledge and enthusiasm. This begins in the Junior School with the School Challenge Quest, an optional, after-school activity in which pupils aged 7 to 11 put together presentations on a chosen subject. In the Senior School, the Helicon Centre – a learning hub where talks, faculty cafés, societies and workshops take place each week – facilitates research projects.
All of which gives pupils an excellent foundation for the more formal Extended Project Qualification: written projects, research journals and presentations equivalent to half a GCSE (level 2) and half an A level (level 3).
The Topics
Year 7
Luca Cheshire: Should heading in football be banned for U18s?
Arthur Hair: Biomimicry
Riya Kantamaneni: What created the universe?
Felix Kloetgen: What effect does architecture have on the brain?
James Marlow: The Fibonacci Sequence and Golden Rule
Alice Moore: The psychology of eating disorders
Nicholas O'Sullivan: The changing of Ancient China
Helena Ramsden: The Psychology of the teenage brain
James Reiss: The history of St Benedict's School
Alex Sastri: Antibiotics
Lily Thornton: Why be vegetarian?
George Toynton: Why were GB so successful at the Rio Olympics?
Giovanni Vecchi: The Moon and tides
Basile Benezeth: Black Holes
Alfie Lewis: All about that bass
Paul Benson: Sully – an extraordinary pilot
Jamie Wilson: Surgery
Michael Stavrinidis: The London Underground Trains
Gabriel Suarrez: Queen
Matthew Curtis: Autonomous vehicles
Dylan Patel: Photography
Janusa Vimalan: Pompeii
Year 8
Asad Asghar: The history of Braille
William Bedwin: Can we colonise Mars?
Callum Chadwick: Dubai
Ohanna Awolio Guede: How do thoughts and emotions effect physical health?
Marriam Hussein: How do we age?
Zach Khan: Unsolved mysteries
Sebastian Lawson: The effects of space
James Morgan: Paracetemol
Tyler Offiah: What is laughter?
George Simpson: What causes us to yawn?
Adam Spencer-Lane: The Atomic Bomb
Aaron Unas: Black Holes
Kit Wheldon: Here be dragons
Ned Watts: Why has knife crime risen in England & Wales?
Amirreza Kebryai: Brexit - what is it?
Danny Parry: K2 the killer of the Himalayas
Maddy Constable: Infinity
Christine Roth: Politics in the UK
Benge Thornton: The Bacteriophage
Ali Hussain: Origami
Holy Drake: Leatherback turtles
Gabriel Dryden: What are the benefits of sport?
Riobaurd Flanagan: The Irish Potato famine
Year 9
Arusun Aravinth: Autonomous cars
Eleanor Bowden: The battle of Mortimer's Cross
Cameron Hughes: Guns in America
Robert Jeffries: Pascal's Triangle
Gabriela Makarewicz: China's hidden Uighur camps
Sebastian Norman: Have aliens visited us?
Benedict Rimmer: The Dive Reflex
Grace Rodericks: How do the beef and dairy industries negatively impact on the environment?
Philippe Seidenberg: Is buying organic produce really worth it?
Eleanor Sharpe: Sleep
Sophie Tripp: Dreams
Laura Wijesinghe: How do we decide which species are endangered?
Max Worrall: Why do we feel fear?
Rami AHMAD: The history of space travel
Natalia MCFADZEAN: Psychology: Eating Behaviour
Edie BRIGHT: How does Amnesia inform us about how memory works?
Sophia SANDELSON: Memory
Christopher Vaughan: How have UK conservation efforts helped the rhino in Africa and Asia?
Thomas Gordon: Future uses of the sun
Rosaleen O'Haire: The growth of renewable energy in Britain
Lea Kassouf: How did the California wildfires really start?
Katriona Reynolds-Iman: The effects of pollution on Human Health
Olakanpo Hadassah: What is the Met Gala?
Year 10
Joshua Bignell: The Ukraine Plane Crash 2014
Isabella Ciavola Mooney: Aurora (Northern and Southern lights)
Roque de Monte Furtado: The Medicis
Shania Debough: Psychosis
Charles Harte: Should tackling be banned in school rugby
Lucas Holmes: How effective is medical marijuana in treating chronic diseases
Angelica Lawson: The Trojan War
Thierry Roy: Real Zombies
Benjamin Walker: Zwillinge - experiments by Mengele
Barnaby Watts: The Watergate scandal
Niall Wynne: Fission, Fusion and the future
James Hunter: Sleepwalking
Jem Mawer: Music and productivity
Ayotenu Dosumu: The underground war
Amy Slaughter: Climate change crisis
Caitlin MacGregor: The Death Penalty
Ryan Garvie: What is the difference between turtles, terrapins and tortoises?
Alex Mills: Plate Tectonics
Aaron Yuan: The first black image - was Einstein right?
Catriona Edwards: Bees
Jin Tao Wang: Evolution of video games
Grace Walker: Zwillinge - experiments by Mengele
Blanca Azipilicueta: Music as a drug