Stephen Hawking Project at San Andrea Senior School attracts International Research Attention from Global Green Solutions Ltd.

San Andrea School is a Parents Foundation for Education (PFE) School in Imselliet, l/o Mgarr.  Its mission is based on the holistic development of its students with the aim of developing independent creative thinkers equipped with leadership skills.  

As part of their Grade 11 (Form 4) science education, students at San Andrea Senior School take part in a project known as the Stephen Hawking Science and Technology Project.  This programme, has been running for 9 years and is intended to motivate the students to learn and develop academic thought (since they present their understanding of a specific science topic approved by the school), as well as necessary life skills such as teambuilding, developing a research programme and public speaking. 

The science background chosen by San Andrea School management for academic year 2008/2009 was ‘The What, the How and the Why of” a topic that the students proposed to research and develop. A panel of judges composed of external educational leaders in the Sciences, reviewed the work developed by the shortlisted teams and the winning project was entitled: The What, the How and they Why of Algae, in which they discussed Algae versus Global Warming and was developed by Karl Bonello, Maria Croucher and Sarah Xuereb.  

Algae are photosynthetic organisms, which according to the research conducted by our students, can be used to sequestrate carbon dioxide from the air and covert it to oxygen on a large scale and hence help in the combat the source of the global warming phenomenon.  The students furthered their research into the fact, that once the algae have multiplied naturally after carbon dioxide sequestration, it will then be possible to starve these algae, resulting into positive environmental by-products.  It has been proven that bio-fuels and high value animal feed can be derived from this process.  It was therefore claimed that Algae Photo-bioreactors are a serious opportunity for alternative sources of energy.  The students went a step further than reviewing literature and quoting from different sources in that they also conducted their own experiments with different algae found in the Maltese waters and tested their hypothesis using a data logger.  They also proposed tangible proposals for the local Maltese scenario in the light of Government established national targets and strategies.  This proved to the school administration and the independent judging panel that the students had learnt far more than what they can get from a normal classroom environment, as they have searched and understood international research papers and case studies and made this understanding their own and applied their ideas into practice.  The Stephen Hawking Project at San Andrea School motivates a serious research environment for all Grade 11 students and the overall learning experience is very strong.  Even though only one group can be selected as a prize winning group (the winning students earn the opportunity of an international science educational trip), all the students taking part in this programme are considered winners as they have all contributed to this effective educational experience.

Last July, Karl, Maria and Sarah, were given the opportunity to present their work to Mr Doug Frater, President and CEO of Global Green Solutions Ltd of USA and Brussels, who learned of this strong research study on Algae as a source of alternative energies and other bi-products, and decided to visit San Andrea School.  This international interest in San Andrea School has been proudly welcomed by school administration, staff and students.  This interaction between tangible international industry research and San Andrea School has been a great opportunity since it has enabled students to experience at first hand that science goes beyond what they learn in the classroom and that it is practically applied around them, all the time.

Debbie Vella

Science Co-ordinator

San Andrea Senior School