Marist Girls Bring Home Silver Again! – British Physics Olympiad Project

A group of our Year 11 scientists are bringing home another Silver certificate after entering the British Physics Olympiad Experimental Project competition.

This is national competition for students  in years 11-13 which encourages the study of physics and to recognise talented young physicists.

This years competition was focused on investigating the gravitational slingshot effect used to increase the momentum of a spacecraft via the gravitational pull of a planet or a moon. This is a crucial part of any long-distance space travel and encourages our students to think outside the box.

The competition encourages and allows students to conduct and take part in experimental research. They planned, completed independent research, undertook experiments, and communicated their findings in a report. They worked together as a team to ensure all areas of the project were covered.

Our students tackled this competition by dropping a volleyball and tennis ball at the same time and measuring the bounce height with a slow motion camera. This approach implemented some technology skills too!

Dr Futyan and the external judges were extremely impressed by the teamwork and perseverance showed by our girls as they faced many challenges, one being chasing the balls around the sports hall as they bounced away!!

This is the first year we have entered this competition and after lots of hard work and dedication being put in after school, we were awarded the silver certificate for our entry in the GCSE age category.

When combining this silver certificate with our gold award we earned earlier this year in the Intermediate and Senior Physics challenges, we are constantly seeing the growing enthusiasm for physics and all things STEM at The Marist School.