The brothers showed off their skills in the National Association of Testing Authorities Australia's Young Scientist of the Year award where they placed fourth and first in their respective categories.
This year's theme was why food safety is important and how it keeps Australians safe.
“I entered the aged nine to 10 category with my project about milk and what happens when it gets too hot,” grade five student Tom said.
“I got three containers full of milk and put them in the car, which was outside in the sun, and checked their temperature every 20 minutes.
“I put one in a cooler bag full of ice blocks, one just in a bag on its own and the other just on the seat.”
After three hours, Tom found the iced milk remained relatively unchanged, where the bag slowly got hotter and the milk on the seat heated more rapidly.
“I came to the conclusion milk and other dairy products should be kept in the fridge with the temperature at or below five degrees, as it will help slow the growth of bacteria and stop it from spoiling so quickly,” he said.
Luke took a similar approach with an experiment about bread.
“I did an experiment on how long it takes different types of bread go off,” he said.
“I took four slices of bread and put them all in containers. Two slices I touched with dirty hands and the other with clean hands.
“I put one of each in the fridge and the others just on the bench and waited to see how long it would take for them to go mouldy.”
Luke found the slices on the bench went mouldy within a week while the others took more than 20 days.
However, the slices that had been handled with clean hands took longer to go off.
“During this experiment I realised how important washing your hands before handing food was to make sure we're eating food safely,” he said.
Luke's experiment earned him first place in his age group while Tom came fourth.
The students each took home a prize.
“It was pretty amazing and cool to be able to win something like this,” Luke said.
“I want to spend my $500 voucher on books.”
Tom also received a book voucher for his efforts, and the school collected $2500.
“We're so proud of the boys and what they have achieved,” Elmore Primary School principal Aaron Taylor said.
“The boys had amazing help from our science teacher Helen Touhey who encouraged them to take part.
“We are hoping to use the money for improving our science area and equipment.”
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