Within the scope of TEKNOFEST, Azra Ayşe Bıçakcı, Hilal Başak Demirel, Zeynep İpek Yanmaz from Antalya İstek Schools took the lead in the 2204-C High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition organized by the TÜBİTAK Science Initiative Support Program Directorate (BİDEB).

Young people from Antalya ranked first in the 2022 TEKNOFEST with their "bioplastic production from acorns" project on environmental awareness.

TÜBİTAK will send high school students from Antalya to Antarctica for the first time. The female students will join the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition delegation and will have the opportunity to test their projects on the White Continent.

The students, who were awarded the first prize with their project "Production of Domestic and National Bioplastic Material to Prevent Microplastic Pollution in the Polar Oceans", told their feelings to TÜBİTAK MAM.

"I've been interested in the polar regions since I was little"

17-year-old 4th grade student Azra Ayşe Bıçakcı, who said that listening to the presentations made at the National Polar Workshop held in 2021 and having the opportunity to make a poster presentation there inspired her and her teammates to do a project on the poles, said: "Realizing that plastic pollution has become a big problem even in the Polar regions, which we know as far away from human influence, made us want to do a project on this issue. Although I was interested in the polar regions, I did not have detailed information about Antarctica and the Arctic before attending the workshop. After deciding to do a project on this subject, I did a deeper research and examined both the articles written by our country's scientists and foreign sources. I have been interested in the polar regions since I was a little girl as they are very different from the ecosystem we live in. After realizing its importance for science, my interest grew even more. We were very honored and excited to be invited to the finals after passing the preliminaries and to be deemed worthy of first place by very valuable jury members. Then, we were very happy to learn that we were selected among the first teams in the Teknofest event held in Samsun with interviews and won the chance to go to Antarctica."

"Our goal is to minimize the pollution accumulated in the polar regions"

Bıçakcı stated that they have started the patent application stages for the project they have developed and said, "We aim for our project to find a place in daily life and offer a concrete solution to plastic pollution in the Polar regions. In addition, thanks to the ties we have established in these events, I want to take part in this team in the future, develop different projects and turn to this field in my professional life. We applied to the competition with our project titled 'Production of Domestic and National Bioplastic Material to Prevent Microplastic Pollution in Polar Regions'. By using the bark and fruit of the oak tree, we synthesized a bioplastic material that maintains its properties in polar conditions, is durable and completely dissolves in a period of one month, especially in the ocean environment, and carried out characterization tests. Our aim was to minimize the pollution caused by the accumulation of waste from all over the world in the polar regions due to ocean waste and to provide convenience to the teams going to the polar expeditions in line with the strict waste policies there. There are many valuable names working in this field in our country that can be taken as an example. For me, especially Professor Dr. Burcu Özsoy, founding director of PolReC and Director of TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute, is an inspiring name with her work and success."

"We had to take every step with precision"

Hilal Başak, an 18-year-old high school student, stated that they had the opportunity to share their project with important names, especially Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy, and listen to their presentations about polar studies at the 5th National Polar Workshop, where they participated as a team and made a poster presentation. "With the positive feedback we received and the increase in our interest and knowledge in polar research, we decided to take our project to the next stage and participate in the High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition. Our steps to prepare for the competition can be summarized as literature review, preliminary studies and experiment process. In the literature review process, we read existing articles to identify a unique raw material, and identified acorns, which are rich in starch and cellulose. In preliminary studies, we obtained acorns and conducted experiments in the laboratories of Akdeniz University and determined the chemical procedures we would use. This was probably the most challenging process. Because we had to take every step with precision. In the last stage, we worked on perfecting our sample and performing its tests."

"I wanted to take action to protect the ecosystem"

Emphasizing that she had previously researched the issues she was curious about the living life in the Arctic and Antarctic regions and read various articles on this subject, Başak said, "However, this is the first time we have produced a project in this field. For a long time, the destruction of nature in many aspects was a subject that bothered me and I was interested in making an impact. I wanted to take action to raise environmental awareness and protect the ecosystem, and I was preparing presentations on these issues. The starting point of our project was the awareness of the problem of plastic pollution affecting the world, threatening the oceans and biodiversity in the polar regions, so we had the opportunity to customize a more comprehensive issue towards the poles and pour this interest into our project."

"It's an unimaginably beautiful feeling"

Stating that they are very happy to be able to turn their ideas into a concrete product and share it with a very wide audience, Başak said, "To produce an alternative product to plastic both in our country and in the world with the material we produced, to be one step closer to our dreams through the first place we achieved in the competition, to do field work as a team going to Antarctica and to have the opportunity to test our material on site; it is a feeling that I cannot imagine. I am proud of myself and my friends. Our main goal is to test our product on site during the 7th Antarctic Science Expedition of our country, to take microplastic samples from the region and, if possible, to contribute to the literature on microplastic pollution in the polar oceans. Afterwards, we will ensure that our material is put into mass production to be used in our country's polar expeditions. In the long term, to spread our product to be used in much wider sectors."

"Our study is unique in this respect and is the first of its kind in the literature"

Giving information about the benefits of the project they participated in the competition, Başak said, "We participated in the competition with our project titled 'Production of Domestic and National Bioplastic Material to Prevent Microplastic Pollution in the Polar Oceans'. While traditional plastics dissolve in nature in a long time such as 450 years, the bioplastic we produce can dissolve in as little as 45 days and does not harm nature and living life in any way. Today, most of the bioplastic products in the literature are derived from unsustainable raw materials such as corn starch. We have synthesized an eco-friendly, sustainable and low-cost bioplastic material with starch obtained from the fruit of the acorn tree, which is in the status of waste, has a much lower cost and is widely found in our country, and cellulose obtained from its bark. At the same time, our study is unique in this respect and is the first in the literature. It is also 20 times more durable than grocery bags. Frankly speaking, I can say that we have mastered this field and the names in the field during the project work. In this process, the first name that comes to mind when it comes to polar research in our country and that I can take as an example is Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy, Director of the Polar Research Institute. She is a very special person with her sincerity, humility and dedication to her work. As a person who has achieved numerous successes in this field, her sincere interest and communication with us throughout the process made me feel close to her."

"We analyzed the shortcomings by examining the previous works"

Zeynep İpek Yanmaz, a 17-year-old high school student, said that they first conducted research and literature reviews on the effects of microplastics on the Polar region and the living things in the region during the competition process and added, "When we decided to produce a bioplastic material, we analyzed the previous studies and analyzed their shortcomings. We took care to ensure that the bioplastic material we synthesized was sustainable. It was a difficult stage for us to realize our first synthesis in the laboratory environment. We participated in the 5th National Polar Sciences Workshop with our poster presentation on 'Microplastic Pollution' in the Polar Regions. Afterwards, we had the chance to learn more thanks to the 2204-C High School Students Polar Research Projects Competition and the events organized by the TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute. We benefited from the experiences of scientists who went to the polar regions. I realized that I was interested in this field thanks to the Scientific Thinking Club at our school and with the support of our advisor teacher."

"We are proud to be the first high school students to be sent to the region by Turkey"

Speaking about the emotions they felt when they learned that they had won first place in the competition, Yanmaz said, "I am very happy to have won the right to participate in the 7th National Antarctic Science Expedition. When we set out with our project, we did not know that we would have such an opportunity and it was actually surprising for us. We are proud to be the first high school students to be sent to the region by Turkey. We aim to continue our projects within TÜBİTAK during the university process. In the future, one of my dreams is to participate in the National Arctic and Antarctic Science Expeditions as a scientist. Prof. Dr. Burcu Özsoy is a name I look up to for her work in the polar regions and for instilling polar awareness in our country. She is a scientist that I feel close to myself because of her work on climate change."