The BGGS Junior Young Physicists’ Tournament (JYPT) team is congratulated on an outstanding performance at the recent tournament in Wellington, New Zealand, where they achieved the Bronze Award (third place).
The team included Sunnie Lin (10M) (team captain), Elise Selwa (10G), Lauren Liang (10L), Soumya Brahmbhatt (8M) and Lucy Petersen (8B).
JYPT requires students to research and conduct experiments relating to an open-ended physics problem prior to the tournament. For example: Two balls placed in contact on a tilted groove sometimes do not roll down. Explain the phenomenon and find the conditions under which it occurs.
The competition was of a particularly high standard and seeing what our 13 and 15-year-olds were able to understand and communicate was truly awesome. The nature of the tournament required the students to not only give a 10-minute speech on their physics problem, but to answer questions on the spot and then participate in a discussion with a member of another team. When acting as an opponent, they needed to thoroughly interpret what had been presented, identify strengths and weaknesses, and find the most pertinent points to focus on when leading the discussion.
Participation in JYPT is open to students in Years 7 to 10 and is an opportunity for students to extend themselves and further develop their critical thinking and analytical skills in a Physics context. Interested students should look out for a Minerva notice early in Term 1 inviting them to an introductory meeting for 2024.
Ms Carmen Keating
JYPT Coordinator
