Annual science fair encourages kids to experiment
- EFN Staff | June 12, 2014
Decorated presentation boards, weird elixirs and the love of science were on display at the Saskatoon Tribal Council's 3rd Annual Science Fair. 67 Kindergarten to grade 5 students from the Tribal Councils seven member bands took over the ED Feehan High School gym for a day of experiments and a 34 exhibit science fair.
Michelle Blackmon is the Career Education Coordinator and Super Saturday Coordinator for the Saskatoon Tribal Council and she sees real value in exposing the students to science at such a young age.
"The goal around the science fair for K-5 is to get them ready for science at the higher levels," said Blackmon. "This gets them ready for when they are at the FSIN science fair. This gives them more experience and prepares them at a young age. But really, go look at the smiles on the kids faces and the displays, they put in a lot of hard work."
For more photos of the science fair, visit our Photo Gallery.
The annual science fair is made possible by a financial contribution from PotashCorp.
"At PotashCorp, we are very interested in the long term. We are going to be here for eighty years so we think of building career opportunities for this generation and for those yet to come," said Leanne Bellegarde, PotashCorp Director of Aboriginal Strategy. "One of the areas that we need people in are science based careers. Whether it is engineers or geoscientists or geologists, those are all really linked to building and nurturing young people to follow science at an early age."
Exhibits ranged from the classic volcano and bubble tricks to plant growth and to how to build a rainbow in a jar. Overall, the kids were very excited to share their lessons with anyone who went by.
"This is a real highlight for the kids," added Blackmon. "Because of the generosity of PotashCorp, all the kids receive a science package with an experiment in it so they can do it at home. We want to spark that science interest in them at school, at home and into the future."