Westbrook School, it seems, is a fertile place for young scientific minds.
Grade 7/8 students took home three gold medals from the Calgary Youth Science Fair last month (April 15-18).
Grade 8 students Kirsten Horne and Heather Burchnall won gold for their project investigating whether a horse’s height impacts it’s recovery time following a series of maneuvers.
Kianah Howk and Kya Shelstad, also in the same grade, looked at whether using hand sanitizer is more effective than basic hand washing with soap at removing bacteria.
Grade 7 students Lucy Rockett and Meaghan Heppner completed work on the impact of colour on memory and recall of information. They used a variety of colours of text on different background colours.
Each group developed a problem and designed an experiment to solve it. Out of the experiment they create a project detailing the conclusions they reached.
Fifteen local judges evaluated the projects, with the top two from each grade sent to compete in the science fair.
“They’re very proud of what they’ve accomplished,” said Westbrook science teacher Elisa Korver, who oversaw the students’ projects. “We’re a small school and they were a little apprehensive about us being so small. And now they’ve gone to the fair, they have all these great ideas for next year and several of them are saying we’ve already started thinking of next year.”
The students began working on their projects in September last year, mostly at home. In January, they brought their work into class.
“We’ve been doing this for three years, so they really feel like they know what the process is, they know where this is going. So they’re pretty excited to do it. They enjoy it.
“That’s just fantastic to hear.”
Korver summed up the essential lesson the students aim to learn from the fair: “How do we take this huge task and break it down in to little pieces and come to an answer?”
But, she said, “It’s not just about the science; it’s about (learning) so many skills that are important for life.”
For a science teacher, Korver experiences the joy of seeing the students progress.
“To see the year-over-year growth and how the students are going to the next level each time is amazing.”
According to the event’s website, the Calgary Youth Science Fair Society’s mission is “to promote an appreciation for scientific principles and method in the youth of Calgary by means of an annual science competition.”
Every year, approximately 800 students from schools in and around Calgary gather to take part in Canada’s largest science fair.
Brad McCabe, executive director of Youth Science Canada, said the aim of the fair is having students engaged in the world’s challenges by applying themselves in different ways.
“We really empower youth to explore their creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship of global and local issues of concern to them.
“They’re bringing the science of tomorrow into the reality of today.”
Korver agrees that the mission has greater implications.
“This is a way for students to do something that’s important to them and look at something that interests them personally and to apply to what we’re learning about in science.
“I talk with my students about the ‘so what?’ and the ‘now what?’ – why is this important and what do we do with it now? I think it echoes far beyond the projects.”
