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A Richmond Secondary School science team won first place at the Kwantlen Science Challenge last month.
Photo courtesy Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Richmond students win Kwantlen Science Challenge
By Hannah Scott
Published 11:18 PST, Fri December 23, 2022
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A Richmond Secondary School team won first place at last month’s Kwantlen Science Challenge, hosted by Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
The day-long competition saw 25 teams competing in challenges based on geology, physics, engineering design, math, and scientific facts presented Jeopardy-style.
Richmond secondary had 14 students compete, split into two teams. Most were in Grade 10, with a few younger students. The group also included three teacher sponsors and two Grade 12 student coaches.
The team met every other day for about four weeks, with increased time and dedication as the competition drew nearer. Students spread out the workload by researching individual tasks, then teaching the team what they learned. By working together, students were able to cover more ground and specific topics.
Connecting with peers has been difficult for students during the pandemic, but the school’s science team has enabled bonding between students. In preparing for the competition, they learned about new scientific phenomena, as well as engineering through developing unique bridge designs.
“The team supported each other throughout the competition and learned to be good science students and teammates. When asked, each student cited ‘fun’ as their number one reason for joining the team,” says sponsor teacher Jason Chow.
The Richmond secondary teams particularly excelled in two events: scientific Jeopardy and popsicle stick bridge building. In the Jeopardy portion, questions focused on plant structure, algebra, ion formation, subatomic particles, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) news, geology, and electrical circuits.
"I still don't know the difference between Ohmic and non-Ohmic devices,” adds Grade 10 student Matthew Ji regarding the Jeopardy event.
Students were tasked with building a bridge using 50 popsicle sticks and white glue. Leanne Luk, in Grade 10, used her passion for science to come up with an ingenious design for the team’s award-winning bridge, which supported a force of 890 Newtons.
“Her positive attitude, enthusiasm, and dedication to her work were great sources of motivation. She was always willing to help and share her wisdom with the team. We are so grateful for her contributions and proud of her accomplishments,” says Chow.
Richmond secondary students were happy to place first out of the 25 teams competing, but mostly happy to have an opportunity to compete again. The teams are grateful to the Kwantlen Science Challenge organizers for facilitating the event, which has been running since 2005.
"It was an unfathomable accomplishment and a great feat elucidating our intellectual capabilities. It was a benevolent delight,” says Grade 10 student Oliver Hua.
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