July 2006 ISSUE
Students Send Marble Passengers
On Ride for Science
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ANIMATED ABOUT SCIENCE |
The carnival came to town for over 800 students from communities across Alberta, when they put their marbles to good use in Science Alberta Foundation’s inaugural Wonderville.ca Science Challenge. Teams of four students were tasked to invent and build a free-standing carnival ride that could securely hold a marble in the passenger compartment, during the event at the end of May.
Sponsored in part by APEGGA, the challenge had winners in six categories announced in a June 1 live webcast hosted at Webber Academy in Calgary.
The challenge complements the structures and forces unit taught in Grade 7. In addition to designing the ride, teams drafted blueprints and were required to identify the structural forces in their rides. Students were provided a free webcam to record their final group presentation for posting on the Wonderville.ca website.
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GREAT RIDES |
Julie Aitken, P.Geoph., Alberta director of the Canadian Council of Professional Geophysicists, announced winners in the most creative and best diagram categories during the webcast, which was powered by the Alberta SuperNet.
Prizes were awarded to the top six designs, with the sponsor school receiving a cash prize for its science and technology departments. Prizes were also given to the winning student team and teacher.
Winners were:
F.E. Osbourne Junior High, Calgary
Best Overall Ride
David Thompson Middle School,
Calgary
Best Diagram
Webber Academy, Calgary
Best Presentation
Calgary Science School, Calgary
Longest Ride Duration, Longest Distance
Riverbend School,
Edmonton St. Marguerite Catholic School, Spruce Grove
Most Creative (tied)
Timberlea School, Fort McMurray
Special Mention
“We were thrilled to have over 200 teams from all over Alberta compete in the inaugural Wonderville.ca Science Cup. All of the participating teams came up with very innovative and original projects,” said Arlene Ponting, Science Alberta Foundation CEO. “This provincewide challenge provides an exciting new way to engage students in online learning and furthers our commitment to foster enthusiasm and interest in science, math and technology amongst children and youth in Alberta.”
Wonderville.ca is an award-winning website featuring interactive activities and printable experiments. Its contents meet the Alberta science curriculum as well as the national science education framework.