Rankin Inlet (Dec 15/04) - Students in Grade 5 and 6 at Simon Alaittuq school in Rankin Inlet learned looks can be quite deceiving in the world of engineering this past week.

The students were taking part in the Science Olympics program sponsored by the Kivalliq Science Educators Community.

Grade 6 student Kristian Brown tries to get two straws to come together just right during the Science Olympics at Simon Alaittuq school in Rankin Inlet.

The students had to use straws and tape to meet a challenge in two categories.

The Grade 5 students had to construct the highest free-standing structure they could using 50 straws and three metres of tape.

The structure couldn't be taped down or anchored in any way.

The Grade 6 students had to make the highest free-standing structure that could support the weight of a hockey puck.

School principal Margo Aksalnik says although the students enjoyed the challenge their tasks presented, they weren't able to go very high with their structures.

She says the Grade 6 students, who went for height with their creations, could only watch in horror as they toppled under the weight of the puck.

"It was interesting to watch the students' reactions to their structures," says Aksalnik.

"Some were smart enough to build it strong at the bottom and put the hockey puck on top to make sure it supported the weight.

"From there it was, OK, it holds, so now we'll build another layer.

"The successful projects were all two-layers high."

Aksalnik says the most common mistake the students made was going past the second layer without having enough straws at the bottom to support the weight.

"Some of them were getting pretty frustrated because they had some pretty elaborate structures, but they just weren't strong enough to get the job done." Aksalnik says the school was given a number of T-shirts to pass out to the students and their results were sent to Baker Lake to be compared with others from across the region.

"The way I understand it, prizes will be awarded to the top efforts in the region.

"The students tackle a different challenge every year, which are rotated around.

"So, we shouldn't be doing straws and tape again for another three or four years."