Web StoreLet’s Talk Science Challenge
Whom is it for: Students of Grade 6-8
The Let’s Talk Science Challenge is a team-based, competitive enrichment event for Grades 6-8 students that takes place each spring at over 20 Let’s Talk Science Outreach locations across Canada. This program encourages students to build their team skills, interact with relevant role models and test their abilities against peers. The Challenge includes an exciting question and answer competition, an interactive, hands-on design challenge, guest speakers and more! It inspires students to acquire science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) knowledge beyond their curriculum.
Benefits to Students
The Science Challenge positively impacts Grade 6-8 students because it:
- gives a realistic view of the opportunities for choosing STEM-related studies in high school to enhance their post-secondary program and career options
- enriches curriculum in eight subject areas (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Engineering & Technology, Math, Physics and Space Sciences)
- puts STEM on the menu of extracurricular activities
- emphasizes team collaboration, cooperative learning and problem-solving skills
- brings them to a post-secondary campus and provides contact with university and college students and professional scientists – a great opportunity for meeting role models!
- provides an outlet for students who are not being challenged by the curriculum
- encourages students to collaborate and form study groups – a useful skill for future years.
About the Challenge
Event Locations & Dates
All Challenge competitions are held annually in April and May at participating Let’s Talk Science Outreach sites across Canada. Specific event location and dates for the 2021 Let’s Talk Science Challenge will be posted once available.
Resources:
1)Handbook: Sample handbook for the Lets Talk Science Challenge year 2021 can be viewed as a reference .The handbook contains several topics as chapters that helps students to prepare for the challenge.These chapters include Biology,Chemistry, Earth Sciences,Engineering and Technology,Environmental Sciences,Mathematics,Physics and Space Sciences. Every student will be assigned 2-3 chapters to prepare for the challenge depending upon the number of students in their team.
Each chapter (except math) will have a hands-on activity. The students are encouraged to practice these challenges.
On the day of the Challenge, all team members will collaborate to provide the answers to the questions, which are categorized by chapter. The design challenge on the day of the event will not be one of these activities, but practicing these activities will help the students work on their communication, creativity and collaboration skills.
Let’s Talk Science Challenge Book 2021 is awaited to be released.
2)Quizzes:To help prepare the students, quizzes will be made available weekly for several weeks at our centre, Stemotics, starting the week after the Let’s Talk Science Challenge Handbook is released.Some online quizzes will also be posted by Let’s talk Science Challenge organizers.So Students will take all those quizzes together to get themselves ready for the challenge. Students can take the quiz as many times as they like!
Answer session at the Let’s Talk Science Challenge will be short answer only.However the practice quizzes can be in any format most of which will be multiple choice questions.