By Allendria Brunjes
Four students from Elgin Street Public School stand on stage. One winds the small cardboard vehicle. The others look on hopefully.
The student puts the car down, lets it go. It propels itself around the small box in the middle of the stage and hits the empty bottles at the end, knocking down a few. The group jumps up with smiles and cheers, the audience erupts in applause.
The students, aged 10 to 12, were contenders at the 2007 Engineering Challenge finals, part of National Engineering Week. At this event, students from across Eastern Ontario competed to see who had built the best vehicle for “obstacle bowling,” or VOB.
Groups of students built miniature vehicles in their classrooms from materials like cardboard, popsicle sticks, balloons and elastics with the help of professional engineers.
After in-school competitions, 39 institutions sent their best students to compete in the finals, held at the Canada Science and Technology Museum late last month.
For the past seven years, the Engineering Challenge has been held to get students interested in science and engineering, says Margaret Kennedy, senior science outreach advisor for the National Research Council, one of the organizing associations.
“We were able to get three schools participating for the first year in the challenge,” she says. “It grew very quickly.”
She says one of the reasons this particular event has become so popular is because it is a physical project teachers can easily integrate into the curriculum.
“They learn everything, from friction to stored energy, and it covers a lot of curriculum expectations,” says Sandra Forzley, a Grade 6 teacher at St. Luke Elementary School in Barrhaven. “It’s an excellent opportunity, especially for those kids who do better hands on.”
Cara Lipsett, a Grade 5 and 6 teacher at Elgin Street Public School, says one of the most interesting parts was seeing the kids learning to work together.
“It was a real challenge for them to collaborate,” she says.
Stephan D’Aoust, a design engineer for the Centre for Surface Transportation Technology at the NRC, is in his second year volunteering with the challenge. This year he helped groups in two classes at école La Vérendrye.
“When I got into it, I realized that it was very rewarding, a lot of fun to help out the kids,” he says. “To see them at that level learning is very interesting.”
However, Kennedy says while they have an appropriate number of schools interested in the event, the Engineering Challenge has reached the maximum number of students for the facilities they use.
In 2004, they tried to hold a morning and an afternoon competition so more students could attend, but it was a hassle for students and organizers, she says.
“We know the demand is great,” she says.
“That year, we were trying to have more students from the schools attend the event, but it lacked the excitement.”
Kennedy says the NRC may be looking to grow their outreach program online, through student and teacher features on the NRC’s webpage.
The NRC partners up with high schools to provide learning materials such as pamphlets, posters and periodic tables, she adds.
This year, most of the students at the event said they were glad to be at the Engineering Challenge.
“We get to have a lot of fun,” said 11-year-old Rachel from St. Luke school. “We’re excited to be here.”
The Hammerhead team from Elgin Street Public School came in eighth place overall, out of the 40 teams that made it to the finals.
“I like pressure,” says Harrison, an 11-year-old team member, when discussing what his favourite part of the event was.
D’Aoust says one of the most interesting things was when a student realized a new concept.
“To me, when I’m designing something, it’s completely second nature, whereas for them, it’s a light bulb moment,” he says.
“It was really fulfilling, rewarding. They enjoyed it, I enjoyed it.”