What: STEM “Show & Shine” Fair
Who: UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Education, School of Engineering, and Vernon Community School
When: Saturday, May 6, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Charles E. Fipke Centre, UBC Okanagan, 3333 University Way, Kelowna
Students from the Vernon Community School earn the opportunity to prototype their innovative design ideas with a UBC engineer in this weekend’s STEM “Show & Shine” Fair.
STEM, (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), aids in the development of design, research and critical thinking skills in students, and is a highlighted feature of BC’s new K-12 curriculum
The “Show & Shine” STEM Fair — the first of its kind at UBC Okanagan — asks students to identify a real-world problem and then work on a STEM solution. A panel of engineering and education professors will select the project ready to prototype further, offering the students the opportunity to work with an engineering mentor to develop their designs in a lab.
More than 70 students, from ages 11 to 17, will have the opportunity to display their work to a panel of judges, who will evaluate the students’ designs, selecting those projects that are ready to be taken to the next level.
Sample problems the students are working on include ‘how hard is it to lower your carbon footprint in one week?’, or ‘how do processed foods affect your body’?
“UBC Okanagan is proud to be a partner in the ‘Show & Shine’ STEM Fair,” says Susan Crichton, associate dean in the Faculty of Education. “We believe that by fostering students’ creative and critical thinking skills, we will be educating the next generation to find unique solutions to real-world problems.”
Students will display their designs from 9:30 to 11 a.m., with judging and awards to follow. The public is welcome to attend.
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