Students from across the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) put their heads together in a competition of science, creativity and teamwork.
Last week, around 330 students from Grades 6 to 9 gathered at the Energy Centre to compete in the sixth annual APEGA Science Olympics.
“I think everybody felt the energy in the room,” said NLSD board chair Arlene Hrynyk. “The benefit of this is the engagement of students and the think tank idea. Students are given a set of equipment or ideas and they have to make that function through science. I think it really expands their knowledge, their ideas, and it puts it together in a meaningful way.”
The annual event sees teams of students from schools across the division work together to develop solutions to a series of three challenges. This year, teams were required to build magnetic levitation cars and race them on a track, design paper rockets for launching to see whose travelled furthest, and building a wall to protect a special guest, which was then tested with golf ball shots at varying speeds.
Students were given specific building materials for each challenge and had to brainstorm, design and construct the winning solution within the allotted time.
“It went amazing. Everybody worked together and there was a lot of support from the teacher and other supervisors that were there, along with division office staff and our sponsors, to make it a fantastic event,” said Heather Stromquist, director of community partnerships for NLSD.
She added, “Every year the events are different so the students that may have attended in the past don't know what to expect when they arrive.”
For Northern Lights students, competing in the science olympics event replaces the traditional science fair where students were required to make presentations on a researched subject. In addition to knowing that the students are doing the work for themselves (and not their parents doing it for them), the benefit to a division-wide event is that it puts all students on an equal socioeconomic playing field.
“The students come with their knowledge they've learned in their curriculum and they come with no tools and resources and have no idea what to expect when they arrive. They have to demonstrate teamwork, they have to use what they've learned in the past and some creativity thrown in. Everybody's competing on exactly the same level playing field,” explained Stromquist.
With their sixth annual event behind them, NLSD has no intention of ending the Science Olympics anytime soon. Staff have already started on plans for the 2017 competition, which will be hosted at the Bold Center in Lac La Biche.
Winners for the 2015 APEGA Science Olympics were:
In Grade 6, gold went to Ecole Plamondon School Team Pistachios; Nelson Heights School Grade 6 Team 1 took silver; and the Cold Lake Middle School Electrons grabbed bronze.
In Grade 7, gold medal winners were the HEB Geology Rocks; silver medal went to Nelson Heights School Def Leopards; bronze was awarded to Aurora Sporters.
For Grade 8, HEB Somewhere Over the Rainbow took home gold; the Aurora Junk Junkies got silver; and bronze went to the EPS Team Hawks.
In Grade 9, the gold was given to the BCHS Team #4; silver medal went to JAWS Orbit; and CLHS Team #1 grabbed bronze.
