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Earphones found to increase risk of inner ear infectionAustralia - November 01, 2012 Frequent use of earphones has been found to significantly increase microbial growth in the inner ear canal, potentially increasing the risk of inner ear infections. The finding comes following a scientific investigation carried out as part of the inaugural Science for Growth Awards by Year 10 Newington College student, Aki Flame, who was named overall winner.
The Science for Growth Awards, an initiative of the Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE), are sponsored by Dow AgroSciences as part of their commitment to attracting young people into future careers in agricultural science. The 2012 awards were open to all Year Nine and 10 students in New South Wales and Queensland, ahead of a national launch next year.
“The investigation topic itself is quite contemporary and Aki’s scientific methods were well researched. His argument was logically presented and the conclusions sound,” said Dr Matt Cahill, Dow AgroSciences’ Research and Development Leader, Australia and New Zealand, adding that the overall aim of the awards is to reverse the trend towards a declining number of young people studying science at higher school certificate and at a tertiary level.
“Twenty years ago, nine out of 10 students in Year 12 studied science. This has fallen to about 50 per cent today, which is quite a concern as it minimises the pool of young people taking up a science-based career,” Dr Cahill said.
“For an organisation like Dow AgroSciences, attracting students to study science at a tertiary level is critical for ensuring ongoing research and development into our food and fibre industries.”
Aki’s teacher, Rukevwe Bateren, agreed with Dr Cahill that significant effort must be made to engage high school students in science. “The awards worked in perfectly with the curriculum which requires all Year 10 students to undertake an independent student research project. So from the perspective of a busy teacher, it was really easy for the students to get involved as all they had to do was turn the research into a poster and submit it online,” Rukevwe said.
Sixteen-year-old Aki, who lives in Stanmore, New South Wales, and has attended the school since he was in year six, was surprised to win the award, with the $500 prize money a welcome bonus.
“I came up with the idea after noticing that a lot of my school mates seemed to be continually getting ear infections,” Aki said. “The first step was to survey students from years seven to 10 on their use of earphones, gathering data on the average time they listened to music with inner earphones, whether they shared them and if so, with how many people.
“I then selected a group of students who used earphones for six hours a day and conducted swabs of their ears and the left earpiece of the earphone. Samples were cultured in Agar plates at 33 degrees Celcius for 72 hours for microbial growth assessment. The study supported my hypothesis that outer earphones are safer than inner earphones.”
Aki is hoping his results will encourage peers to clean their earphones more regularly. “It might also encourage some innovators out there to develop a safer earphone which allows the user to enjoy the higher quality of music delivered via inner earphones, while providing enough ventilation to prevent microbial growth.”
PICSE’s Science Education Officer, Anna Paice, said she was thrilled with the level of support from teachers in both states.
“We will be surveying all teachers involved in this year’s award to assess what worked well and areas on where we could improve the awards for next year,” said Anna. “However early feedback indicates the awards were successful in engaging scientifically minded young students to go that extra mile. We’re really looking forward to a national launch of the awards in 2013 and will be encouraging all science teachers to get behind the initiative.”
First, second and third prizes were also awarded to other students in New South Wales and Queensland. The New South Wales state winners:
· Anita E-Tobaggi from Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta for an investigation into how much CO2 is found in different soft drinks · Vanessa Agius from Our Lady of Mercy College, Parramatta for an investigation into the effect of different music genres on plant growth · Shaun Villata from Marian Catholic College, Griffith for an investigation into the impact of Seasol on the number and speed of lawn seed germination
Queensland’s first, second and third placed winners were:
· Rachel Rognoni from Centenary Heights State School, Jindalee for an investigation into the kinds of distraction that most effectively increased pain tolerance · Laura Robson and Ashley Muller from Prosperine State High School, Prosperine for an investigation into the interaction of air friction and gravity on projectile trajectory · Daniel Patava from Centenary Heights State High school, Jindalee for an investigation into how to alter the reaction rate of the chemical process that occurs between hydrogen peroxide and detergent.
In assessing the winners, the judges, who included a mix of representatives from Dow AgroSciences and PICSE, employed a set of standard criteria including the use of the scientific method within the report, the standard and relevance of the visual presentation, the student’s oral presentations to the judges and the effectiveness of the written communication using text, graphics and summaries of student reports. The shortlisted students were interviewed by videoconference, so they could take questions from the judges.
For more information about the program and to be kept informed of national launch plans visit http://www.scienceforgrowthawards.com.au/
For Editorial Information:
Sharyn Casey
Jim Phimister |
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