To promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) education for girls and to provide participants the opportunity to enjoy themselves while applying the basic themes of science in a practical, experimental context, Lauralton Hall offered the Science Olympics for Girls on Saturday, September 28, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:45a.m. The event theme, “Science is FUN!” is well chosen since the event offers a unique opportunity for student-centered, team building skills to be developed in a fun setting.
Open to sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls, Science Olympics for Girls is held twice a year, in September and May. Participants spend the day doing tasks that show that girls not only do science well, but also have fun while doing it! Teams of no more than four girls compete in events that focus on the areas of physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology. Each event lasts twenty minutes, with the final event being a multiple choice “All Science Challenge.” Each activity is a task that the teams perform to obtain a result or measurement. The challenges require teamwork, planning and lateral thinking. The teams are ordered based on the accuracy of their results and prizes are awarded to the winning teams.
The four 8th grade girls pictured took first place in the 8th grade division at Lauralton Hall this past Saturday.
