King?s College holds open day

Many students are looking forward to Easter vacation and a break from classes … but today the students at one Belize District High School got a break from the normal routine and a chance to enjoy the fruits of their semester’s hard work.

Kendra Griffith, Reporting
There was music, art and crafts booths, and plenty of students ready to proudly show off their projects at the third annual King?s College open day.

Dyron Cadle, 1st Form
?I am doing a project on volcano. This one is a shield volcano. There are three types of volcano, a shield, a cinder cone and a composite.?

Kendra Griffith
?Why did you choose the volcano??

Dyron Cadle
?I just want others to be aware of the many damages that a volcano can do.?

Kendra Griffith
?What are you doing to make the volcano erupt??

Dyron Cadle
?First you need to put in acid with foil paper and that will make it smoke. And after you need to mix the baking soda with the vinegar and red food colouring.?

Over at the chemistry section, fourth former Alonzo Pineda was using his own mixture to light fires, using oxygen and glowing splints.

Alonzo Pineda, 4th Form
?We?re demonstrating the separation of oxygen from hydrogen peroxide by using manganese dioxide as a catalyst to speed up the rate of separation. And what takes place here, as you can see?this is already the mixture of the hydrogen peroxide and the manganese dioxide. The oxygen goes up this glass tubing and through the rubber tubing and into the flask. And the oxygen that goes from here into here displaces the water, so that you can collect the oxygen in a closed area. And what I?m gonna do now, is I?m gonna make this splint and I?m gonna take the glowing splint and stick it in this one that we already prepared. And if it lights, it?s because pure oxygen is in there.?

?We prove that we have obtain oxygen from hydrogen peroxide.?

According to Principal, Marcial Castillo, apart from having the students flex their mental muscles, the open-day serves other functions.

Marcial Castillo
?The purpose for this open day is to enhance our academic programme. The students get involved and they learn quite a bit when they do the stuff themselves. The other one, is like I said is to raise funds, and the other one is to expose the school, is to let people know that we are here still.?

And the students were doing their part to expose potential attendees to what King?s has to offer. Students such as Alexander Emmanuel, who explained the effect light has on plant growth, using beans.

Alexander Emmanuel, 3rd Former
?We made a box, covered it with red stuff and this was made through under a green light. Now if you notice, the one under the red light is bigger than the one than the green light. Because on the red light it shoots ultraviolet rays, which helps the plant to grow more faster.?

?It?s very good for plants, it hurries up the process or growth, it has an effect on it.?

Kendra Griffith
?What does it actually do, do you now how it actually works??

Alexander Emmanuel
? Oh yes man, in the leaf there is chlorophyll which attracts light and ultraviolet goes through the chlorophyll to help photosynthesize. So then it does that and the plant use it as food to convert starch and then to glucose, so then the plan use that as their food so that can eat and grow.?

Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.

King’s College is located at mile thirty-one and a half on the old Northern Highway. The Evangelical institution was established in 1957 by missionaries.