Winners of Ocean Park’s Steam Student Competition design tools to protect wildlife
- Last year’s winners designed furniture for the park’s meerkats to help them improve their social skills and provide entertainment
- This year’s winners made an AR butterfly game based on ‘Pokemon Go’, as well as a new structure for coral reefs to grow on
Judee Ray Del Val, Dana Ramirez and Fadia Zannatul from Rosaryhill Secondary School said they hope to provide an immersive experience for visitors to observe the gateway wild butterflies. Photo: Ocean ParkAfter winning Ocean Park’s Steam (Science, technology, electronics, arts, and math) Student Competition, for designing tools to help protect wildlife, three groups saw their designs come to life.
Each year, the theme park sets several themes for students to focus on. Last year’s winning team from Chinese Foundation Secondary School designed an enrichment tool for the new meerkat enclosure.
“Meerkats’ New Furniture” provides entertainment, trains physical strength, and improves the meerkats’ social skills.
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It was designed by Bella Lau Wai-ming, 16, Stephanie Tsang Cheuk-lam, 17, Clement Cheng Wai-lok, 16, and Eddy Lau Wai-wai, 16.
“We were thrilled when we saw the meerkats for the first time. But we were also sad they only could dig in the sand or play the role of sentry,” Eddy said.
Bella Lau Wai-ming, Stephanie Tsang Cheuk-lam, Clement Cheng Wai-lok and Eddy Lau Wai-wai designed enrichment tools for the Park's meerkats put to good use. Photo: Ocean Park
This year’s winners include Form Five students, Fadia Zannatul, Judee Ray Del Val, and Dana Ramirez from Rosaryhill Secondary School who created a butterfly-friendly garden. They used augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to create an interactive game for Ocean Park visitors.
After watching butterflies in Cheung Chau, and learning about how pesticides harm them, the three students designed a garden using eco-friendly materials to attract more butterflies.
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They also created a game similar to Pokemon Go, called Butterfly Go, to teach visitors about the winged insects using fun facts and quizzes. The third part of the project was a VR experience called “Butterfly House” that gives users the experience of life as a butterfly.
Another group of 2021 winners were from Rhenish Church Pang Hok-ko Memorial College. Joey Lee Yik-hing, 15, Lily Lee Tsz-ying, 15, and John Sze Hau-chuen, 16, designed “Coral Restoration: Artificial Scaffolding for Corals”, a hexagonal structure on which coral reefs can grow. All projects can now be seen at Ocean Park.