The Science Olympics Club has activities similar to many of the activities and challenges put on at the annual, regional Science Olympics at the University of Lethbridge. Students are put into groups and given a challenge that they must complete.
We opened up the club to students from Grades 3-5. Both of us were a bit worried that a) no one would show up, or b) too many people would show up. Luckily, we had a really good turnout (around 26 kids) without it being too overwhelming.
This week's challenge was to build the tallest, free-standing tower made out of straws, paper clips, 60 cm of tape, and a few pipe cleaners. At first it was a bit tricky, but after a while, most of the students started to understand the little tricks. Building a really good base is a start. Another is to have supports in place when it gets too high. After an hour or so, they were then measured! It was a really close tie at the end; the winners won by 3 cm!
It seemed like everyone had a really good time! I think Matt and I breathed a sigh of relief that it was successful, no one got hurt, and it looked like people were going to come back next week.
On the commute home, we were excitedly throwing out ideas at each other for other possible challenges we could do. So far, it's been off to a great start and I can't wait for next week's Science Olympics Club!