SUIS science fair brings out the best in students
Print Edition
QUESTION: What happens when you bring together students, teachers and parents from seven schools into one hall? Answer: More science learning than you can imagine.
Thanks to the hard work of Michael Kay, teacher at Shanghai United International School Hongqiao, and also the head of the SUIS Cross-Campus Science Committee, and his team of teachers from SUIS Hongqiao, Wanyuan, Gubei, Pudong, Shangyin, Jiaoke, and Wuxi, SUIS was able to pull off it’s first Pan-Campus Science Fair. It was held at the Hongqiao campus.
“The science department at SUIS has a highly experienced and enthusiastic team of teachers and technicians who have a deep interest in their subject area,” said Kay. “This enthusiasm helps them motivate pupils to find out more about the subject and achieve their full potential.”
It also helps the group pull off impressive events.
Students competed in three age groups: juniors, middle years and seniors.
Projects were diverse and varied, but all offered a unique contribution to new knowledge in the sciences: a hand grenade fire extinguisher, research into the extent to which plasma balls can power electrical devices, the impact of brain games on the brain, new insights into friction’s friendly applications, discoveries related to water pollution, as well as interesting learning about the decomposition of fruit, including the winning presentation in the senior division, entitled “Let’s Save The Spoiling Strawberries.”
According to the student from Hongqiao campus, Allen, the event was “a success because everyone learned something new about science.” Allen said it was especially beneficial because they learned from both teachers and other students.
Carl, another student from Hongqiao, said, “We learned how different independent variables will affect results.”
His science fair partner, John, noted the importance of “process” to scientific inquiry, something teachers underscored during preparations. Added Kay, “It’s through such processes we believe we can help our students have a more thorough understanding of this subject so that they can make sense of their world.”
Indeed, we live in a world where science is all around us, and SUIS believes students should experience this world firsthand. This was the second such event organized to achieve this end by Kay and his colleagues.
Earlier in the year, a group of students and teachers traveled to Hong Kong where the SUIS traveling party was met and looked after by respected outdoor adventure based learning company Dragonfly (visit their site: www.dragonfly-outdoors.com). It’s based in Sai Kung in Hong Kong’s outlying islands, far from the busy city.
Here students camped, hiked, played, observed and learned together as one SUIS family. The trip included gorge walking and water quality testing, kayaking, ecosystem studies, hiking, team bonding exercises, cooking and many other memorable adventures.
Science teacher, David Doyle, said: “We hope the students learned a great deal from this trip, not only about science through real life experiences, but also about themselves and their lives back in Shanghai.”
The goal of the Cross-Campus Science Committee is to bring teachers and students together across seven SUIS campuses.
Kay concluded: “Encourage pupils to develop skills and abilities which allow them to apply the science knowledge they gain to a range of situations; to this end we ensure that science is placed in context and related to the day to day lives of our students.”
Indeed, as Carl Sagan wrote, “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.”
The SUIS Cross-Campus Science initiative is helping students live Sagan’s words.
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