Following the grade 7-9 competitions held in HPSD junior highs in May, Georges P. Vanier School hosted the first divisional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Challenge Finals on Friday, June 2.
The individual winners from competing schools came together to form six teams of two as they battled it out for the divisional title. Students were bused in from Prairie River School and Kinuso School to spend the day demonstrating scientific problem solving, connecting their understandings of physics (building and testing machines) learned in science from grade 1 to grade 8.
The teams were tasked with creating a Rube Goldberg machine, described as a chain-reaction type machine that performs a simple task indirectly and overly complexly.
Students chose their materials (primarily recycled items) and had three hours to create their contraptions using a variety of simple machines such as inclined plane, wheel & axle, screws, pulleys, and wedges. Points were awarded for planning, creativity, reliability as well as the variety and number of simple machines used.
The students used ingenuity to problem-solve on the go, and each team’s creation was completely unique. Liam Lamason and Reid Oliver from Prairie River Junior High School were the competition winners.
Congratulations to all participants!