Breadcrumb Trail Links
Posted May 26, 2023 • 4 min read
Sacred Heart High School team members participate in the Sir Mix-A-Lot competition as part of the Nuclear Innovation Institute’s Science Research Olympiad held at Georgian College’s Owen Sound campus on Friday, May 26, 2023. From left are Sophia Herchmer, Jasmin Voisin, Karina Hahn and Emma Culbert. The goal of the competition was to mix a mystery solution to create specific colors within a given time. A total of 11 high school teams made up of 44 students from across Grey-Bruce participated in the event, which included science challenges involving geometry, chemistry, forensics, climate science, engineering and more. Photo by Rob Govan The Sun Times
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The players were focused, the pressure was on and the rivalry was intense as close to a dozen teams of Gray-Bruce High School boys battled to finish on top on Friday.
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But the competition was not played on the field, in the gymnasium or in the arena. It was in the classrooms and laboratories of Georgian College’s Owen Sound campus, where the Institute for Nuclear Innovation was holding its first Science Olympiad.
A total of 11 teams of four students each, from Bluewater and Bruce Gray Catholic, participated in the inaugural event, which pitted them against each other in challenges that included geometry, chemistry, forensics, climate science, engineering and more.
Phillip Craig, director of NII Explore, said the area has such a strong tradition of athletics in its high schools and they want to create a similar tradition in academics.
“For some of these kids, when they go to post-secondary institutions, they lose places, scholarships and things like that because urban kids have things on their resumes that we just don’t have access to,” Craig said Friday. “This is a way to level the playing field as well as just celebrate science in this area and all the great work local science teachers are doing.”
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The challenges presented to students on Friday put their problem-solving and teamwork skills to the test. In one challenge, called Sir Mix-A-Lot, students were presented with a tray of mystery solutions. They were tasked with mixing the appropriate solutions to turn one yellow, then dark blue, and then clear again as quickly as possible. In another challenge, called Ice Ice Baby, teams of students had to use the data they were given to identify the ages of a number of ice core cross-sections and place them in the correct order from oldest to newest. The Maze Challenge required students to use a laser and five mirrors to navigate through three stages of the maze.
“We want to gamify science and STEM, because the thing is, people always learn best when they don’t realize they’re learning,” Craig said. “This is a way for people to practice their skills and make those connections while having a great time.”
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“When learning is fun, it stays and is better for everyone.”
A team from Saugeen County Senior School just cruised through a Maze challenge set up in one of the college’s classrooms. After completing their challenge, all team members agreed they enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of science, so when the opportunity arose to put those skills to the test in a competition, they jumped at it.
Members of the Saugeen County Senior High School team participate in the Labyrinth competition as part of the Nuclear Innovation Institute Science Research Olympiad held at Georgian College’s Owen Sound campus on Friday, May 26, 2023. From left are Jacqueline Fenton, Peter Alpaiaro, Clara Howe and Evan Barry. The goal of the competition was to direct the laser through the maze to the target using the mirror. A total of 11 high school teams made up of 44 students from across Grey-Bruce participated in the event, which included science challenges involving geometry, chemistry, forensics, climate science, engineering and more. Photo by Rob Govan The Sun Times
“I think we’re all probably pretty curious people, and I think science is a good way to kind of explore that curiosity,” said team member Evan Berry. “I think we have diversity in our group. For example, some of us may be better at physics, while for others it may be biology. We could see that in previous activities.”
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“We haven’t had many opportunities like this in this area, so it was great to be able to go out and see other schools and find out what they’ve learned compared to what we’ve learned,” Clara Howe added.
Jacqueline Fenton said solving problems is something she really enjoys.
“A lot of it involves puzzles, which are basic puzzles, but you still have to think, and I like that,” Fenton said. “It was great to be able to bounce off each other.”
Members of the Walkerton County School Community participate in the “Ice Ice Baby” contest as part of the Nuclear Innovation Institute’s Science Research Olympiad held at Georgian College’s Owen Sound campus on Friday, May 26, 2023. From left are Michael Schuster, Josh Engel, Bethany Bruce and Emma Matheson. The goal of the competition was to organize objects that mimic ice core cross-sections by age based on the data they provided. A total of 11 high school teams made up of 44 students from across Grey-Bruce participated in the event, which included science challenges involving geometry, chemistry, forensics, climate science, engineering and more. Photo by Rob Govan The Sun Times
Walkerton County School’s Michael Schuster said his science teacher approached him, asked if he would be interested in participating in the event, and he agreed to give it a try. He was glad he did.
“We’re working on our communication skills and cooperation and I’ve enjoyed that,” Schuster said. “The puzzles keep getting harder, which was the best part.”
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“It started out easy, and our minds worked.”
NII—founded by Bruce Power, SNC-Lavalin, ES Fox Limited, Kinetrics, BVKST Technologies and Cameco—has done a lot of programming with elementary students in recent years through its NII Explore program. They taught hundreds of classrooms of young students coding, electrical and environmental programs, but Friday’s event was the biggest for high school students.
Craig said it’s the first time a Science Olympiad has been held in the area in recent memory, but something NII wants to do more of. Next year, they plan to raise the mathematics competition “to a higher level”.
With Georgian College as a partner, the event included the University of Windsor, which hosts the larger Science Olympiad event.
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“This is the first time we’ve used their expertise to bring that city experience to rural Ontario,” Craig said.
The winning team from Saugeen County Senior School at the NII Explore Science Olympiad held at Georgian College’s Owen Sound campus on Friday, May 26, 2023. From left are Peter Alpaiaro, Evan Berry, NII Explore Director Philip Craig, Clara Howe and Jacqueline Fenton. Photo attached
Friday’s winning team, which ended up being the 12th grade team from SDSS, received a championship belt and earned the right to represent Grey-Bruce at the next University of Windsor Science Olympiad, where about 60 teams compete annually. They have also been invited to defend their title at next year’s local event.
Dave Shorey, executive director of the Owen Sound, Georgia campus, said the college is happy to partner with the Institute for Nuclear Innovation and the University of Windsor to host the event.
“We are well equipped because of the engineering programs and because of our connection to the energy sector and the health sector,” Shorey said. “We have a lot that we can use to be able to benefit the community.”
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