Thinking outside the box
SET Challenge encourages creative problem solving
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
KIVALLIQ
Kivalliq schools are taking part in the annual Science Engineering Technology (SET) Challenge during the month of November.
This year's challenge will have students cracking up with its focus on eggs.
Matt Thompson of the Kivalliq Science Educators Community put this year's challenge together.
He said there's a rotation of activities done each year, with this year's being egg challenges.
"I was sent the challenge activities that each grade would do, looked at the various materials they needed, and got someone to pick it up down south," said Thompson.
"We needed things like golf balls, yarn, duct tape, elastics and straws.
"I divided supplies for the region's 13 schools, based on each school's grades and number of students, boxed them up and mailed them out.
"Each school received about 50 to 60 water bottles with this year's theme, Manic Madness, on them to be given out as prizes."
Each school also got a huge box filled with egg-related prizes, such as plush eggs and sticky eggs.
Thompson said he hopes every school in the Kivalliq takes part in the challenge.
He said overall, the response to the SET Challenge is pretty positive from the region's 13 schools.
"A lot of the schools anticipate taking part in the SET Challenge every year.
"We had a telephone conference about a month ago and we discussed, maybe sometime in the future, doing a SET or STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Challenge that would cover all three regions of Nunavut at the same time."
Thompson said every challenge is done in groups.
He said groups range from five or six students in the younger grades, to two or three in the senior grades.
"Individually, the students have a lot of fun and really enjoy the challenges.
"They use logical thinking, problem solving and engineering principles to complete a task, and everyone really supports each other.
"As a school, it brings the students together for a common purpose which, this year, is working on an egg-related challenge.
"You're working on a different challenge from kindergarten to Grade 12, but it all has to do with the same theme, so it creates a continuity throughout the school for a single challenge."
Thompson said there are two optional competitions happening within the SET Challenge this year.
He said students in kindergarten to Grade 6 have to mail an egg to Ontario.
"They have to create a little protective parcel, with the winning team getting their unbroken egg to Ontario using the lowest amount of postage.
"So it has to be the cheapest to ship, but still protect the egg, with the winning team getting $200 for a pizza party and $300 to buy science supplies for their school.
"For Grades 7 to 12, they have to create a machine no larger than 6'x6'x6' that cracks and cooks an egg in three steps.
"You might drop something into a pot, that moves a lever which cracks an egg into a pan, then something turns on the stove like a domino effect."
Thompson said each challenge is tied to grade level curricular expectations.
He said the biggest skill students take away from the challenge is being resourceful to solve problems.
"It's very similar to coming across an unexpected problem while out on the land.
"They would have to be resourceful to solve that problem, and the SET Challenge provides them a safe opportunity to practise that skill inside a classroom.
"That mentality of looking at a problem in different ways, or working in a group to solve a problem, is one of the things each grade is going to take away from every SET Challenge we do.
"Up here, where you often have limited access to materials, it's a good idea to practise thinking outside the box to meet any challenge that presents itself."
