On February 13, Bialik High School in Montreal hosted the Canadian semi-finals of the Shalheveth Freier Physics Tournament. Thirteen teams from Montreal and Toronto met for one evening to compete and showcase their learned physics principles.

Each year, Weizmann Canada hosts the Canadian semi-finals, a pivotal experience for budding young scientists. Juniors and seniors in high schools across the country form teams and take on the challenge: Build a safe that only your team can open, and then try to open the safes of all the other teams.

Each team builds a locked box that operates on the principles of physics, able to be opened in less than five minutes, but that will keep opponents stumped for at least 10 minutes. Entries are scored by a panel of esteemed judges, not only for being pick-proof, but also for aesthetics, originality and the team’s knowledge of the science principles. Teams get added points for every safe they manage to crack. The winners (pictured above), Herzliah High School of Montreal and an all-girls team from Ulpanat Orot in Toronto, were able to demonstrate great understanding of the physics principles involved. Both teams travelled to the Weizmann Institute of Science to compete in the finals, a twoday international showdown from March 20-21.