Skip to content

Annual science fair showcases students

The annual Central Okanagan science fair was held Friday and Saturday at UBCO.
web1_170311_KCN_science-fair
French Immersion students Gabriella Kennedy, 11, and Cassandra MacDonald, 10, show off their science project during the annual Science Fair, March 11 at UBCO. - Image Credit: Carli Berry/Capital News

It’s time for Central Okanagan students to show off their latest science experiments.

The annual Science Fair allowed public-school students to present their innovative displays on Friday and Saturday at UBCO.

French Immersion students Gabriella Kennedy, 11, and Cassandra MacDonald, 10, showed off Vite! Vite! Vite! which means Quickly! Quickly! Quickly! in French.

Their project questioned if chores would be done faster with motivation.

The students did their chores including: washing dishes, the floor and doing laundry and set time-limit goals, trying to beat those goals to increase motivation.

“If you think it’s a game and you always want to beat your time, you think you’ll be faster at doing chores,” said Kennedy.

The pair came up with the idea because they have to do chores in the house, but said the project wasn’t as fun as they anticipated as it involved doing chores.

Tobias Blaskovits has been coordinating the event with the district for the past three years.

“It really connects with the whole of the new curriculum and we want students to be 21 Century learners. What they learn they need to be able to share with people that are interested,” he said.

The aim is to get away from the traditional competitive science fair and explore other creative avenues

“We want students inquiring about the world around them,” said Blaskovits.

This year’s fair will also had demonstrations set up by the university during Saturday’s event.

The tables are to inspire the kids and interest the public, said Blaskovits.

Leah Hamill, with the UBCO Chemistry Outreach Team loves chemistry and working with kids. At her table, students sampled ice cream after the UBCO chemistry team combined cream with liquid nitrogen.

“It’s a pretty common experiment,” said Hamill.

Come see the science fair today at UBCO! Students are presenting projects and enjoying demonstrations.

A post shared by Capital News-Kelowna (@kelownacapitalnews) on

On Friday, March 10, the competition heated up as judging was held in the Engineering, Education and Management building.

“Science Fair participants in the competitive category can win a spot in the regional fair at Summerland. From there, the top six students in British Columbia will travel to the national fair in Regina, Saskatchewan to compete for $400,000 in prizes and scholarships,” according to a release issued by the school district.

The displays were followed by presentations by UBCO professors. Topics include 3D printing, chemistry, and engineering.