On Saturday, May 24th, FFCA SEE once again had several teams participating in the APEGA Science Olympics. This year all three teams won gold! And one team got a perfect score. All three SEE teams worked very hard since the fall planning and completing their challenges. They met regularly to prepare, build their prototype, make improvements, and strengthen their teamwork! ❤️
All teams completed a challenge these last months which was to build a nest out of recyclable materials that could float, was camouflaged and attractive to birds, and could hold a bird and 3 eggs. We used a toy bird and golf balls to test our prototype. Our three groups came prepared to present to the judges last Saturday for points. In the APEGA Science Olympics teams are not competing against each other but rather against the criteria. Judges award points for the challenges and presenting the two prototypes. Gold medals are given for teams who score between 90 and 100% percent.
Throughout the day, there is a mystery challenge, and teams once again work together without their coaches to complete the task. Our teams had to fix three “potholes” on a cardboard road using a variety of materials and then test that a wind-up car would drive smoothly over the repaired road five times. Students could pick from a list of materials that had a price of one ticket. Each group had 5 tickets in total and got an extra 3 points for each ticket left over. For example, 2 coffee filters, 2 plastic gloves, a certain amount of cotton balls, and a small ball of clay each cost 1 ticket.
Our three teams from SEE were all from grade three this year. Each team presented their nest to the judges and had five minutes to explain the process the team went through the to create their prototype such as using recycled or reusable materials, working together as a team to make improvements, testing out different options, etc.
While waiting to present to the judges, teams worked together to plan, fix, and test their ideas to repair the potholes on their road (which was three holes cut out of their strip of cardboard) They then prepared to show and test their “repaired road” to the judges.
Our three teams impressed the parents and coaches alike with their ability to work on both challenges as a team. We are extremely proud of the Cheetahs Team, EES Team, and the Nest Ninjas Team (and their parent coaches Katya, Lili, and Cheenam respectively) We are also proud of the other FFCA team members there. We know for sure that The Water Conservers (and parent & coach Amrita) from SMS won gold as well! If you have ever been curious about trying the Science Olympics, feel free to contact Ms. Roberts, or any of the team members you might know, to find out more information. Registration is around October and though it is hard work, it is also very satisfying to see the work pay off in the form of a very positive experience for all and gold medals for all teams this year!