Timaru Boys win top prize for astronomy DVD

The major prize in the Freemasons BIG Science Adventures DVD competition has gone to a team of three year 12 boys, Ryan Ammar, Matthew Keelty and Adam Simpson and their teacher, Tony Bunting, from Timaru Boys High School.

Their film on the theme of how astronomy has revolutionised our thinking about the world has won them a trip to Europe in July.

Freemasons BIG Science Adventures is an exciting and challenging DVD competition run by the Royal Society of NZ each year which offers major prizes for secondary school students.

This year’s competition was themed around astronomy, looking at how our view of ourselves and our world has changed in the light of astronomical discoveries – 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and is 400 years since Galileo made a telescope which magnified objects 20 times, providing an astonishing new view of the moon and planets.

The film produced by the Timaru team, The Burning Question, addresses the recent discovery of planets beyond our solar system and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.

Starting with a dramatic depiction of the burning at the stake of Giordano Bruno, the film explores the important discoveries since then and concludes that the ultimate question is really the search for who we are.

The trip to Europe will take the boys through London, Venice, Florence and Rome, visiting the Vatican Observatory, Galileo’s Observatory, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Venice Biennale.

Prof. Lloyd Davis, of the University of Otago and chair of the independent judging panel, commented on the winning film: “This was the complete package – it had a great storyline, excellent cinematography, a superb narrator and script and an engaging style.”

Dr Di McCarthy, chief executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand and Stan Barker, Grand Master of Freemasons NZ travelled to Timaru last month to tell the news to the team in front of the whole school at their assembly.

“We were delighted with the number and quality of this years’ film entries. NZ has a wonderful future resource in its talented and inspiring school students,” Dr McCarthy said.

In addition to the trip to Italy, two special prizes will be awarded to two shortlisted teams, to join one of the Royal NZ Navy ships, sailing from Auckland to Gisborne to join in the Cook’s Landing Commemoration celebrations in October.

These prizes will be announced this month.