| Biography |
|---|
| I am Kira Allen, a grade 8 student at the Calvin Park Challenge program in the City of Kingston. This year, I conducted an experiment to test the memories of domesticated chickens. Chickens are commonly thought of as being unintelligent, so I decided to see for myself if this bias was true by testing the memory of my pet chickens. After being trained, my chickens learned that a yellow bucket contained food, and remembered this for a whole month. In further investigations, I would test chicken memory at longer periods of time, possibly with more complex tasks. While I'm not at school or hanging out with my chickens, I swim competitively, run, read, and bake. I also enjoy camping and creative writing. I'm passionate about social justice, and have won a regional philanthropy award for helping to organize a yearly neighbourhood fundraiser. Next year, I am going to attend the International Baccalaureate program. If a student thinking about doing a project asked me for help, I would encourage them to explore a topic that they are interested in. |
| Kira Allen
Who are you calling Bird Brain? Chickens may be smarter than you think!
| Challenge: | Discovery | | Category: | Junior | | Region: | Frontenac, Lennox & Addington | | City: | Kingston, ON | | School: | Calvin Park P.S. | | Abstract: | If someone called you birdbrained, would you be offended? Chickens are valued only for their meat and eggs, however, they actually possess complex intelligence. My goal is to test the ability of chickens to learn an association between colour and reward, and to test the duration of their memory. How long can a chicken remember? The answer just might change the way you view chickens. |
| Awards | Value | Excellence Award - Junior
Bronze Medal
Sponsor: Youth Science Canada | | Western University Scholarship
Bronze Medallist - $1000 Entrance Scholarship
Sponsor: Western University | $1 000.00 | | Total | $1 000.00 | |
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