Eagle View Elementary School (EVES) hosted a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Challenge last Wednesday at the Civic Centre.
“It’s an applied skills design challenge for grade six/seven learners from all of the schools on the North Island, and that includes the independent band schools,” said EVES Principal D’Arcy Deacon.
Deacon said the goal of the challenge was to “creatively design and build a project that relates to a real world industry and community challenge.”
This year, the students were challenged to design and build a water collection and distribution system for a school garden, using only the materials available to them at their desk.
“They had a couple scientific, technological engineering and mathematic principles to discuss and think about ahead of time, but they didn’t know what the actual challenge was before we started,” said Deacon, who added the challenge is really all about making sure that in Port Hardy, “we are really connecting learners and learning with our local economy, employers and entrepreneurs - so the kids recognize that what they are learning has relevance and value in its application here on the North Island.”
The School District 85 STEM challenge is a gathering of grade six and seven students from across School District 85 working collaboratively using science technology engineering and mathematics principles in an applied manner.
Working in groups of five or six, the students were given limited supplies to design, build and test their product that addresses the STEM challenge.
Students were required to present evidence of a design process, account for the cost of materials used in the final product and then demonstrate the use of their product to industry professionals who served as judges.
Students worked collaboratively using creative problem solving skills, applied learning principles and innovative design to help produce a solution for the specific challenge.