Thirteen Marc Garneau students participated in the Brain Bee competition on 1 April, 2016 from noon to five in the afternoon.
Brain Bee is a written competition, testing high school students about their knowledge of neuroscience. The competition consists of three rounds with presentations and refreshment time in between. In each round, contestants were asked short answer questions orally. Once all the questions were finished and papers collected, judges read their answers and gave points accordingly. All the contestants participated in the first round with the top 50% scoring contestants proceeding to the second round. Afterwards, the top ten contestants went on to the third and final round. Awards were given out to the highest ranking school competitor, and the first two places overall. The Toronto Brain Bee is hosted annually by the University of Toronto on their St. George Campus.
Participants at Brain Bee competed to qualify for the next round. Photo courtesy of Toronto Brain Bee.
Of the thirteen students, five made it to the top 50% from Marc Garneau Collegiate institute. Out of those five, Frank Hong, a Grade 9 student, placed tenth overall, securing himself a spot in the third round of the competition, with Abirami Sivakanthan and Arani Kulamurugan behind him by one point.
Abirami Sivakanthan said, “Brain Bee was an amazing experience! I learned so much about the brain, and I realized that most of us often underestimate what a well crafted organ it is”. Many other students stated that Brain Bee was a highly educational opportunity and that they will definitely be participating again next year.
