Science Club Gets Busy With Excitement

February 5, 2021

Academics

GNS

Science Club has been up and running since the Spring of 2020, as Ms. Erin Dallin used it as a way to keep students engaged and involved in science from home. Starting as a virtual meeting of science enthusiasts, it has now evolved to a point where Science Club members meet once a week: Thursdays on Week one and Fridays on Week two in the Atkins Building.

“Most of the students involved at that time were taking part in the science fair, but with COVID-19, the fairs did not run as usual,” Ms. Dallin explained. “The students wanted to still be involved in science in some way, so we began meeting three times a week on Google Meet. We brought in guest speakers, took part in a science book club, and learned about the immune system. This year, I continued the club since it was so popular and enjoyable in the spring.”

To kick the 2020-2021 school year off, Science Club members started growing crystals, which will be on display in a Crystal Beauty Pageant at the end of February. Crystal growing can be challenging. It only takes an under-saturated solution for crystals to disappear, causing the need to start all over again. Members of this club are super-vigilant, checking on crystals regularly to ensure that only the clearest and biggest crystals are produced.

This year, Science Club will be involved in the Challenge4ClimateAction, an annual community initiative that will be held virtually on February 18. The conference, hosted by experts, will provide participants with useful knowledge and background information for two categories to participate in, the Challenge and the Datathon.

“This is the first time that I have had students involved in the Challenge4Climate Change activity. I am so glad that students are interested and can’t wait to see what the team comes up with,” said Ms. Dallin.

The GNS team consists of six Science Club members, who will participate in the Challenge division where they will be tasked with devising solutions to problems ‘STEM-ming’ from real-world climate issues. The conference takes place from March 5 to March 14, and the teams will be given 10 days afterwards to develop their solutions. Presentations will be in video format with the top 10 Challenge teams moving forward to present live to judges. The top three Challenge Teams will share the grand prize of $12,000.

An equally exciting opportunity that Science Club is involved in will happen right in our school community. In years past, presentations would be live with Science Club members heading over to the Beach Drive Campus to perform science experiments and tricks. This year, the Science videos will be recorded and sent to students at the Junior School campus. Upcoming experiments, which will begin recording on February 12, include the colour of fire with different salts, and the well-known ‘Elephant Toothpaste.’

There is never a dull moment in science, therefore never a dull moment in Science Club. New fellow scientists are always welcome and, as famously stated by leading Science Club members, Riya and Shreya “Keep an ION Science Club!”