By Enid JoaquinThe Ministry of Education’s National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fair and Sagicor Visionaries Challenge which officially kicked off Wednesday at Linden Foundation Secondary School is expectedSome of the creative entries on display.to culminate today, with President David Granger slated to attend the closing ceremony.The last Science fair was hosted in Region Two in 2014.Under the theme “Enhancing traditional technology to sustain modern societies through STEM”, students from all across Guyana pulled out all the stops to showcase their creativity. They used disposable items such plastic bottles, coconut shells, and myriad waste materials to fashion useful items,Cheap Jerseys Free, and to produce energy.The event drew students from 46 schools from across the country, and saw 116 entries.There were five divisions according to coordinator Gerald Jevoram.The divisions were Primary, Lower and upper secondary, Tertiary and out of school open and Sixth form open. STEM APPROACHJevoram said that the idea for the science fair was “born” in 1990. It was moved from the stage of being just a science fair, to incorporating Maths, technology and engineering, as science could not stand by itself.He noted that because it was fit to make the fair interesting and worthwhile,NFL Jerseys From China, it was decided to incorporate the four areas that sees the involvement of science, mathematics and technology – hence the STEM approach.National science Coordinator, Petal Jetoo,Cheap NFL Jerseys, said, “Sagicor came on board with the Caribbean Examinations Council to embrace education in a way that reorients it towards a better quality of life through STEM.Using STEM, students showcased their ingenuity with impressive projects. They harnessed electricity from water and solid waste; they created disposable ware using bagasse, which was touted as the alternative to Styrofoam.Several projects were also exhibited utilizing information technology as the new addition or alternative to the “chalk and talk’ method of teaching employed over the years.There were also projects involving the use of local herbs as the alternative to conventional medicines in the treatment and prevention of various ailments and diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to name a few. Also exhibited was a rice hull stove, which utilizes rice hull among other things for energy and another cooking apparatus utilizing solar power.Both these projects had food items on display which was cooked using the paraphernalia.Other impressive exhibits included several food items and a milk shake created using breadnut, and the myriad items that could be created through the use of coconuts and all its by products including its waste.Jevoram said that Sagicor will be offering scholarships for winning entries.Lois Oliver, who is the assistant director of the Caribbean Science Foundation, based in Barbados,Jerseys From China Online, said, “We know that Styrofoam is a big issue in Guyana and we have students who have come up with the potential to have containers created that is biodegradable, such as bagasse a real solution to a real problem, because we see the students using bagasse to create an alternative, and that is what Sagicor is all about,Authentic Jerseys Cheap, creating solutions to real problems.“It’s a competition where we ask secondary school students to look around their schools and community and identify problems and challenges in their community, and then use their creativity and innovation to come up with solutions to these problems. So its realty a design project where students are really the creators of the solution.“Sometimes there is a lot of merit in these solutions, and students can actually get marks on this on their SBA’s from this for CXC,China Jerseys Cheap, so this isn’t just a fun project it can actually stand the students in good stead, as far as their studies are concerned.” |