Gordon Ballantyne, a Grade 11 learner at Graeme College, has done himself proud.
Gordon Ballantyne, a Grade 11 learner at Graeme College, has done himself proud.
After being ranked first overall in the regional finals of the Eskom Science Expo at Rhodes University on 24 July, Gordon enjoyed a sponsored trip to Pretoria to compete in the National Science Expo where 553 projects were on display.
Gordon, who has become known as ‘Spider Man’, exhibited his winning project which is entitled: “The use of orb spiders as a possible model for studying the psychoactive potential of compounds for human consumption” in Pretoria in early October. The winners for the various categories were announced soon afterwards. An astonished and elated Gordon was awarded the Derek Gray Memorial Trust Award for the project with the most potential as well as a unit trust fund from Allan Gray Investor Services for the best project title. As part of his prize, the Derek Gray Memorial Trust will be sponsoring Gordon as he has been invited to attend the International Science Fair in Sweden from 4 to 11 December. Spider Man will present his project alongside representatives from 20 other countries and while in Sweden he will attend the Nobel Science Fair. He will also attend many other formal events and has been scheduled to meet the Swedish royal family.
Gordon has proved himself a budding scientist. He won a silver medal last year when he entered the regional expo with a project titled “Is the water in the Koonap River safe for human consumption?” This project dealt with the E coli bacteria. Ever ambitious he set his sights even higher for his 2009 Expo project. Mentored by pharmacologist Rev Jan Herbst, Gordon chose to study the Argiope Australis, or common garden spider because of its neat and regular web. He then observed the effect on the webs after he had administered diluted doses of household compounds like herbal tea and a caffeinated soft drink. The psychoactive effect of these compounds could then be evaluated.
The future for this young man looks bright. Winning the regional Science Expo afforded him the opportunity of a full tuition scholarship to Rhodes University for his first year of study.
