8 Issue 54 – October 2015 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
Year 13 student Jemma Smith won a total of three prizes in
Class 5 for her project, ‘Antimicrobial properties: To bee or
not to bee?’
Jemma’s investigation stemmed from her research into the
current medical industry for her International Baccalaureate (IB)
Diploma extended essay in Biology.
“Upon learning of the issue of antibiotic resistance, I decided
that I wanted to see if there were any potential natural alternatives to
combat this problem,” Jemma explains.
She decided to test the anti-microbial properties of honey
and propolis on bacteria. Jemma discovered undiluted honey,
particularly manuka, shows inhibition to bacteria while propolis has
a synergistic effect, significantly boosting the anti-microbial effects
of honey to bacteria when added.
“Thus, I concluded that undiluted honey - and even more so with
propolis added - can be used to effectively treat bacterial infections.”
Jemma will be using the money she won for university textbooks
when she starts a Conjoint Bachelor of Nursing and Health Sciences
(BNurs/BHSc) at Auckland University next year.
Laura Snell also investigated the use of honey as an anti-
microbial instead of traditional antibiotics. The Year 8 student was
awarded two prizes in Class 2 for her project, ‘Honey; I shrunk the
bacteria’.
The investigation has given Laura a new appreciation for
traditional Māori medicine, which utilises the properties of honey to
treat illness, as well as teach her to form her own opinions through
research.
Year 13 student Jessica Yule was also awarded prizes in Class 5
for ‘Global Warming: Is your lunch the culprit?’
“I wasn’t expecting to win any prizes due to the competitive
nature of the science fair but I am really happy that my work was
acknowledged,” Jessica comments.
The innovative project idea was Jessica’s IB Diploma extended
essay and explored her passion for environmental science. Jessica
learnt the importance and food and resource distribution and ways
that even school canteens can minimise their carbon footprint.
Inspired by the investigation, Jessica hopes to work in the
development and distribution of resources both nationwide and
internationally.
The full list of Queen Margaret College Prize Winners:
• Jemma Smith won the NumberWorks’nWords prize, the New
Zealand Statistical Association and Statistics New Zealand prize
and the ESR prize in Class 5 for ‘Antimicrobial properties: To
bee or not to bee?’
• Antonina Smolnicki won the Measurement Standards
Laboratory; Callaghan Innovation prize in Class 5 for ‘A pain
in the aspirin’.
Queen Margaret College’s scientists won 14 awards at the Wellington Regional NIWA
Science and Technology Fair held at Victoria University.
Anti-Microbial
Properties of Honey
• Jessica Yule won the Sociological Association of Aotearoa; New
Zealand prize and a Highly Commended prize in Class 5 for
‘Global Warming: Is your lunch the culprit?’
• Olivia Kelly won the Hugh D Gordon Memorial Prize and a
Highly Commended prize in Class 5 for ‘The Meaning of the
Colours we ‘See’[weed]’.
• Anamika Nampoothiry won the Wellington City Libraries
Prize in Class 5 for ‘“I don’t always need to end up in a soup”
A Tomato’.
• Freya Crestani won the NZ Institute of Chemistry prize and a
Highly Commended prize in Class 5 for ‘The Esterification of
Amoxicillin’.
• Isobel Scherf won a Highly Commended prize in Class 2 for
‘More Drip; More Grip’.
• Laura Snell won the Wellington Medical Research Foundation
prize and the ESR prize in Class 2 for ‘Honey; I shrunk the
bacteria’.
Laura Snell
Bridget Forsyth