Skip to content

North Delta science students say so long poster board, hello arcade machines

Delview Secondary students to showcase their interactive science projects at Delview Exhibition 2018

High school science fairs can be a bit tedious, with students reciting well-rehearsed descriptions in front of static displays adorned with brightly coloured lettering and (if you’re lucky) ample amounts of glitter.

But not so on Wednesday, Jan. 24, when Delview Secondary students will get a chance to show off some of their learning in interactive style.

The Delview Exhibition is an annual show-and-tell for students in science, information technology and media arts classes, where they have the opportunity to share some of the things they’ve learned with their parents and members of the public. But, rather than the traditional approach of, say, hanging poster board projects throughout the cafeteria, this exhibition comes with a twist: every display the students have put together is interactive.

From full-size arcade machines and homemade Amazon Echo devices, to Rube Goldberg contraptions and digital animations, seeing what the students come up with is always exciting for their teachers.

“A lot of it has been really surprising,” science and information technology teacher Jonathan Kung said. “Going into it, you really don’t know what to expect.”

Kung has done this exhibition for three years with the school’s Grade 8 science students, with each group of students taking an inquiry question from the curriculum and developing it into an interactive project.

“Every year it’s going to be different, because it’s really about what the students’ passions are and what they want to get into.”

The Grade 8 science students were responsible for building interactive displays that could fit inside an square box. After the exhibition, some of these will be put up around the school, meaning they need to be intuitive, easily communicate the science behind the project and stand the test of time.

“Kids have reached in and pulled out wires and things like that” on past projects, Kung said. “Which I told them, that’s going to happen, just like if you had it at Science World. Kids are going to pull around with it, so you’ve got to make it strong enough to withstand the test of time and withstand multiple uses.”

For this year’s exhibition, the Science 10 students were tasked with making Rube Goldberg machines, deliberately complex contraptions designed to perform a simple task through a series of indirect devices. Information technology students in Grades 11 and 12, meanwhile, created projects as varied as arcade machines, shadow lanterns and gas detectors, and media arts students will be showcasing their animations during the exhibition.

Delview Exhibition 2018 goes from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24 in the school’s cafeteria. Interested viewers, and those who want to play with the exhibits, can either show up or RSVP at bit.ly/delviewexpo2018.



grace.kennedy@northdeltareporter.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter