3rd class were incredible presenting their science project on Hugelkultur to judges from the Primary Science Fair at BTYSE and Science Blast in May 2021. Their feedback was incredible. Special thank you to Mr. Mennis and Valerie Burns for all their help on the project. The following is feedback from the judges;
Update;
The class, now in 4th class, revisited their Hugelkultur on Thursday March 10th 2022. They noticed how much the Hugelkultur had subsided as they had predicted. So they built it back up again with paper, lovely compost from our compost bin in the bio garden and then topsoil. It is ready now to plant seeds.
“Wow! I was impressed from the very start by the information that 3rd class presented to me. The pupils had a clear question which they set out to research and produce. What a super idea to create a PowerPoint to explain your project remotely! All of the speakers spoke in a calm knowledgeable manner and I was impressed greatly by their confidence Their presentation was beautifully laid out with clear headings and bright colourful photographs of each stage of their build. I was very interested in why they chose to do this project and they outlined their reasons with great clarity.
This is obviously a project that all the children of the class were involved in and they all took ownership of. Their level of knowledge of their topic, creating the hügelkultur, and the theory and history behind it was outstanding and was at a much higher level that I would expect from a group of pupils their age. In fact, their level and knowledge would be impressive in students twice their age! They involved maths in the project by measuring their hügelkultur mound both when they made it and after and made predictions on how much it would sink. I really loved that they were able to explain clearly what they learned from doing the project. This was an all-encompassing endeavour that involved composting, recycling, biodiversity and sustainability.
I was really impressed that this project came about as a sustainable solution to the real-life problem of planting on rocky ground. A fantastic outside the box idea which made use of everyday local materials. I am sure that this class will continue to work on and develop their biodiversity garden throughout their time in Timoleague NS. Finally, your class should be really proud of the team effort that you put into this project. You are very lucky to have such wonderful teachers, parents and helpers that made it possible for you to complete such an amazing project. Thank you for sharing your work with me. I am very happy that I had the opportunity to judge your project and I will definitely be giving hügelkultur a go in the Autumn with my classes!”
“The project was very well presented with a great powerpoint display and the speakers on behalf of the class were great at communicating the key points of the project. The inclusion of the explanation of Hugelkultur in German was a lovely addition. I think the class displayed a genuine curiosity about what they were doing and the Hugelkultur approach was a really imaginative approach to tackling the initial problem. The most impressive thing about this project was in the way it applied science to tackle a real life problem faced by the school. The findings of the project as a whole were very positive and going the extra mile by taking the measurements to show how the decomposition was happening was truly impressive.
The class demonstrated a great understanding of the scientific concepts behind hügelkultur, especially by understanding how the bacteria contributes to the decomposition and the necessary factors for the bacteria to carry out its function. Great job!”
