Recently, over 180 Grade 6 and 7 students from Hastings, Lord Nelson, AR Lord, Franklin, and Begbie Elementary Schools spent the day at Templeton Secondary challenging their minds --- and teamwork skills --- at the annual Templeton Science Challenge.

The Templeton Science Challenge is the "new" Junior Physics and Engineering Competition (JPEC), an event originally created by Mike Hengeveld, a  teacher at Templeton. "I ran the competition at UBC for 8 years in cooperation with UBC Physics and the VSB,"says Hengeveld. "And the purpose of that regional event was to give build and design challenges to Science 8-10 students."

The event at Templeton offers senior students an opportunity to mentor and guide the elementary students through a series of experiments and challenges in chemistry, physics and biology.

For chemistry, students used their forensic investigative skills in a fibre and density test, noting the burning properties of different types of fibre to connect evidence to a crime scene.

Students then worked together for the physics challenge, and built a mousetrap-powered catapult to launch a marshmallow, measuring distance and accuracy. 

The biology component saw students classifying invertebrates based on morphology.

The Templeton Science Challenge is in its second year and Hengeveld says its been awesome.

 "The appetite at the elementary level to "build and do" is enormous, and now I get to involve my own students more in the actual running of the event. All around, I would say that this event reaches and impacts more students than the original JPEC did --- although I do miss that event and collaborating with UBC," he says. 

The elementary students reveled in the hands-on experiences and working with their high school leaders; their awesome new Templeton Science Challenge t-shirts were an added bonus to a great day of learning. 

The event is a part of Templeton's highly successful STEM Program.

To view photos from the day CLICK HERE.