Herald Sun Article:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/learn/girl-power-surge-june-25/story-e6frf7nf-1225880240749A global competition puts this duo to the test, writes Blanche Clark.
If Hilary Hunt and Madeleine Barrow represent the future of science in this country, we're in safe hands.
Their enthusiasm for physics has seen them speed through first-year university science in a few months and represent Australia in the Asian Physics Olympiad in Taiwan in April. Next up is the International Science Olympiads (ISO) in Croatia next month.
The 17-year-olds have relished the chance to travel overseas and were awed by the fuss the Taiwanese made about the science competition with the kind of fervour Australians reserve for sport.
"We had police escorts and this multi-storey building just for the competitors," Madeleine says.
They also met the vice-president of Taiwan and Nobel Laureates.
The MacRobertson Girls' High School year-12 students are the only Victorians on a team of five competing in the ISO physics competition (July 17-25).
Paul Khoo, of Melbourne High School, and Gina Tonkin-Hill, of University High, are part of the biology team competing in South Korea (July 11-18), and Stuart Ferrie, of Melbourne High, is the lone Victorian on the chemistry team competing in Japan (July 19-28).
The 13 students attended a two-week science boot camp at Monash University in January.
"We learnt everything that we had to know then, but you can't learn a whole physics course in two weeks," Hilary says.
"So by March we'd just finished learning the basics and then we were expected to problem solve, and it was just a bit hard."
The girls say the lab exam was easier than the theoretical exam.
"Basically, they give everyone a massive box of equipment and a couple of sheets of instructions and you get five hours to play around and work the problem," Madeleine says.
Hilary says she almost gave up physics in year 10 because she found school science too formulaic, but the Olympiad really stretched her.
"I don't think anyone got more than 90 per cent -- one Taiwanese guy got around 80 -- but the rest of the scores were low. It really stretched you to think," she says.
The girls say they feel better prepared for the International Science Olympiad than the Asian Physics Olympiad, but they will study intensively before they compete in Croatia.
Both students plan to study science at university next year.
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