February 2008 Issue
SPONSORSHIP
Crate Brings Children The Fun
and Science Of a Good Carnival
BY NANICA BROWN
Public Relations Coordinator
 |
THE CARNIVAL WITHIN |
Grade 4 students around the province are getting into the carnival spirit with Science Alberta Foundation’s newest Science-In-A-Crate. The crate, called Wanted! Engineers for the Salazar Carnival, is designed to challenge students to use simple machines such as pulleys, levers and gears as they analyze carnival rides.
APEGGA, together with the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering
and Alberta Advanced Education & Technology, are proud sponsors of the first
crate in the an
engineering series. The crate helps young people find out about the careers available
in science, technology, engineering and math, and it incorporates learning tools
normally unavailable in the classroom. This allows students to grasp difficult
science processes, skills and knowledge in a fun and interactive way.
“The crates program opens students’ minds to the wide variety of exciting engineering careers available to them,” says Doug Annable, P.Eng., chair of the Science Alberta Foundation board. “Most students do not understand the relationship between science and engineering, and the huge impact engineers have on everything we use in our daily lives.”
SAF’s Science-In-A-Crate program loans classrooms a long list of trunk-sized crates, filled with hands-on science related activities. Wanted! Engineers for the Salazar Carnival lets students pretend they are mechanical engineers-in-training. The students are then hired to examine seven rides and provide design improvements.
Small versions of the ferris wheel, the merry-go-round and the swing challenge students’ understanding of how gears transfer movement. The Drop of Doom tests a variety of pulley systems. Airborne Acrobats and Creature Crate Tool look at lever arms and fulcrums. And Ghost Cars has students selecting the best wheels or rollers to carry carnival-goes through a haunted house.
The crate is proving popular. Since April 2007, it’s been booked 37 times and has visited 16 communities, bringing engineering fun to 1,091 students. Currently, it is fully booked until the end of June.
With demand for engineering-related crates so high, developing new crates under the category is an SAF priority.
“APEGGA’s sponsorship enables us to continue development of the
engineering crates program — we are continuously planning and designing
new crates to assist classroom teachers in teaching the math and science curriculum,” says
Mr. Annable. The Association’s support helps SAF “further our goal
of advancing science literacy through this program, which provides students with
a hands-on, practical approach to learning the fundamentals of science by relating
it to the everyday world.”
A second crate in the series, called Journey to the Centre of the Reservoir and
available soon, is based on the heat and temperature unit in Grade 7 science.
A third crate, focusing on flight, is being developed.
more info
Wanted! Engineers for
the Salazar Carnival
Description and Images
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www.sciencealberta.org
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