UVic Hosts All Science Challenge Competition

Sixty Grades 6, 7, and 8 students will converge on the University of Victoria on May 13 for a fun-filled All Science Challenge day of competition and camaraderie. The event is hosted by UVic science students as part of the nationwide Let’s Talk Science Outreach program to excite and inspire the next generation.
       Following the opening ceremonies, teams from six schools—Central Middle School, Lansdowne Middle School, Cedar Hill Middle School, Shoreline Middle School, North Saanich Middle School and Ecole Davis Road Elementary School in Ladysmith—will participate in two rounds of questions with professors, staff and university students serving as judges. Teams will test their knowledge in a range of disciplines, such as earth sciences, engineering, biology, chemistry and physics. In the afternoon, teams will compete in a hands-on design activity, where they are challenged to build an object with the materials supplied to them. (During past challenges, students were tasked with building a bridge capable of holding a bottle full of water with only plastic cups, post-it notes and duct tape.) The top three teams will then face off in a final elimination round. The last team left standing will become the local All Science Challenge Champion.

       “All Science Challenge”
       Friday, May 13, 9:30 a.m. to 2:20 p.m.
       Photo opportunities and interviews available during design challenge from
       12:35 to 1:15 p.m. and during the final round at 1:20 p.m.
       UVic Harry Hickman Building, Room 105
       Admission is free and everyone is welcome
       Parking info and maps are available at www.uvic.ca/visitors/explore/maps.

The All Science Challenge was developed in 2004 by Let's Talk Science Outreach volunteers at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON, and is currently being held at 19 universities across Canada this year. Shaw Cablesystems, 3M, Honda Canada Foundation, Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the BC Year of Science are generous supporters of this year’s competition at UVic.

Let’s Talk Science is an award-winning, national, charitable, outreach organization that supports educators in teaching science to children and youth. It engages and trains more than 2,200 volunteers—largely students and faculty from more than 30 universities and colleges across Canada—to deliver exciting hands-on/minds-on science to more than 110,000 children and youth each year. For more info, visit www.letstalkscience.ca/.

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