What is a solar storm? Why are bacteria important? What is Natural Language Processing?

These are just some of the possible questions that students were prepared to answer at the Grenfell Campus Let's Talk Science Challenge, held in May.

The national Let's Talk Science Challenge program is a free, team-based STEM/science competition that encourages students in Grades 6-8 to learn about new STEM topics and show what they learn in an exciting, supportive environment. The grand finale competition with a quiz and engineering challenge is held in person at several locations across Canada, and online for everyone.

"The energy in the room and the excitement for learning is obvious," said Dr. Christine Campbell, faculty supervisor for the Let's Talk Science chapter at Grenfell Campus. "It's wonderful to watch students enjoy themselves as they participate as teams in these science activities and competitions."

Questions for the challenge - which can be short answer, multiple choice, true or false, fill-in-the-blank or matching - are derived from the Let's Talk Science Challenge Study Handbook. The handbook uses a variety of methods to engage students in biology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering, technology, environmental science, math, physics and space science, and has everything students need to study in preparation for the theory component of challenge.

During the one-hour engineering challenge, students demonstrate their ability to work together to approach a real-world science scenario and come up with a strong solution. This year's challenge was to design an outer coat to protect a sensitive piece of scientific equipment that could be deployed to the Arctic. The outer coating had to protect from cold, water, UV rays and also come in within a set budget!

During the Ultimate Quiz, questions were presented in a 'quiz' style event with three rounds. Once the question was presented, competitors had between 15 and 30 seconds to confer with their teammates, write their answers on their whiteboard and present it to their assigned judge.

And the winners were:

"The Let's Talk Science Challenge is just one of the programs offered by our team of university student volunteers," said Dr. Campbell, a professor of environmental science in Grenfell's School of Science and the Environment.

In addition to hosting the challenge and the ever-popular Tricks and Treats Hallowe'en Event, she said, volunteers visit rural and remote schools and communities, conduct lab tours on campus, and offer a myriad of workshops, with topics ranging from dinosaurs and weather to marine animals and space.

"Community groups such as Scouts and Girl Guides, libraries, summer camps, after-school programs and community festivals can request volunteers virtually and in-person to incorporate hands-on/minds-on STEM learning in their programs," added Dr. Campbell.

To learn more about Let's Talk Science at Grenfell Campus, visit Let's Talk Science at Memorial University-Grenfell.