WISEST - Women In Scholarship, Engineering, Science & Technology

Wisest is a program offered to grade six girls who are interested in science and engineering. Grade six girls from selected schools write essays if they are interested in attending. Then the teacher from that school who will be taking the girls on the trip will select the four best essays and tell the writers of the essays that they were selected.

The day of the program, we walked to a building in the U of A and went to the place where Dr. Margret Ann Armor would be talking to us. We arrived a few minutes before she started. She talked to us, then she showed us some cool science experiments. First she had a piece of paper that she lit on fire; it burned slowly and it burned into letters. When it stopped burning, it read “Hi”. After that, she put red cabbage juice and another liquid in a container, and it turned green which shows that the other liquid is a neutral. She then added dry ice to it, making it orange, which indicated that it is an acid. She added one more liquid to it, making it purple (purple is an indicating colour of bases), but it quickly went back to an acid (orange). Then she froze a banana in liquid nitrogen, but she only froze half of it; with the frozen half she hammered a nail into a wooden board, then she ate the other half. These were just some of the experiments she did.

After that cool presentation, I think everyone was excited to get started on our activities. The activities ranged from extracting gluten from flour to making a picture frame out of two pieces of newspaper that could fit five people in it. These are some of the activities the girls from our school did. After we all got into groups, we went to our first activity. Our activity was food chemistry, where we had to get all the gluten out of flour. She then showed us how vegetables can bleed. One was fresh, the other was frozen. Only the fresh ones bled. We also did a smell test were we had to smell different foods.

In our next activity we made the tallest tower we could out of 20 toothpicks, 6 straws and 1 cup of shaving cream; it was lots of fun. After that, everyone from all the schools that participated came together in one big room and did an activity. In this challenge, we worked in a group with the other girls from our school and made the tallest tower out of one sheet of newspaper, a paper ruler, 6 straws, and 30cm of tape. It was a very difficult challenge. We went back to the place where Dr. Armour talked before. To end the event, she did more experiments, including one where she used grape juice to make sparkling lemonade, milk, water and raspberry smoothie. We feel that it changed our perspectives on science and engineering.

By H2O

City Hall Mock Meeting

Our class went to city hall and held a mock council. We all had an important role that we participated in. Our class voted on a mayor who we called Mr. Mayor. Two people were "special interest groups"; one was arguing for the EXPO and the other was arguing against. One person was the city clerk and, last but not least, the rest of the students were councilors.

We all learned how to deal with an important role in life. In that hour we also learned how to reach for goals that may seem impossible, but also how to tell ourselves that we can do it anyway. We altogether saw that we can use democracy, even in just a small place such as our classroom, just like how we had to vote on our class pet’s name. Some situations in life may come up where we have to remember our knowledge of democracy; we might even have to use it.

Our whole class enjoyed being able to use the microphones to talk to the rest of the council members. Our tour guide notified us that they have a great microphone system so we wouldn’t yell or speak loud into the microphone. We also got a tour of the building and our class was able to go into the room where the City Council has their meetings. There was a dome on the roof that the tour guide was able to close for us, but it was too bad that it only lasted a few seconds(30 seconds); we all wish it lasted longer.

"The Mayor" and our teacher got to go into the mayor’s secretary's office and sign the guest comment book. Some other people in the class also wanted to, but they weren’t allowed to. The book was big and red and it sort of looked like an old time book.

The EXPO lost because "a nearby house-owner" convinced the councilors to vote for not having the EXPO in 2017, because of the land it would use and the pollution it would cause. The over-all experience was great!

By, M & C

Classroom Chemistry - Filtration & Mixtures

In science class, we were creating mixtures of salt, sand and rocks. We studied the mixtures with worksheets and diagrams and then we collected information. Then the entire class discussed their various ideas of filtration to separate the sand, salt, and rock mixture. There were ideas like anti-centrifugal force, the fan idea (the different masses separated by wind), and the fish tank idea (different levels of filters).

FUN FACT: Salt is less dense than sand.

The next day we actually built a filtration system, and used it. Water was poured and the rocks were caught in a large mesh. The sand seeped through and got stuck in a coffee filter, while the salt landed in a beaker with the water. Then we evaporated the water to leave the salt behind.

Question & Answer

Why did the salt stay behind instead of evaporating?

Because the salt is too heavy to evaporate, it stays behind in its solid state.

Has all of the salt been isolated after the evaporation of the water?

No, probably not. Some salt may have gotten caught in other parts of the filtration system and stayed mixed with the sand or rocks.

By: R & K

Art Gallery

We (room 17) went to the Edmonton Art Gallery on December 8th, 2009 to learn about architecture and art. We were there for three hours. We went to the City Hall that same day, but that’s a different story. Anyway, when we got there our class got split up into two groups and we were given tours of the gallery. We were shown photos, drawings, and models on different buildings around the world. One of the buildings we were shown was a technology building that had a school in it too, but was never built. Another one of the many photos was a few photos of buildings that were built in ancient Greece and are still standing, which is pretty cool.

After looking at the pictures we were told to create our own buildings with the three other people in our group, using the pictures we had seen as inspirations. The materials we used were clear plastic, cardboard, egg cartons, paper towel rolls, etc. Everyone’s was unique and different. Everyone had different inspiration including a bottle, Fort Edmonton and a Wii remote. We were given sheets that told us what the topic was, what it was going to have inside it, where it is located, the weather, the climate, etc.

The people who worked there gave us a sheet of paper where we drew our design. We were also able to brainstorm on the huge sheets of paper that covered the tables. Then we started to build the structures using the sheet we had used earlier to do the planning. We used the materials as we mentioned above. Our whole group had to work on it to finish in time. We had about one hour to complete our buildings. Once we were done we shared what it had inside of it, where is located, the weather, the climate, and our inspirations.

We all had tons of fun and we learned a lot of interesting things about architecture and buildings. Thanks for reading!!

BY M & J

Evidence and Investigation

The grade sixes of room 17 (along with room 21 and 24) went to the Bennett Centre to have an adventure of evidence and investigation.

We had a chance to be a pretend detective, forensic scientist and a lawyer. First we observed what we saw in the “crime scene” and memorized what we saw. The teacher went through some rules of being a detective; the one that stood out most to me was that if you saw a glass with something that looked like coke in it, you couldn’t say “I saw a glass with coke in it” you would need to say “I saw a glass with a coke-like substance.”

The story of the crime is there was a guy named Felix Navidad. Nobody really liked Felix; he was rich and never had a job for more than a month. He was throwing a party in his beach house with some of his closest friends, even though they didn’t consider him to be their friend. The only reason Gene, Kendra, Alfredo and Vera came was because Felix told them that they where in his will. During the hour that his friends were there, Felix was murdered.

As a Forensic scientist we did a whole bunch of tests on most of the things left on the crime scene. The grade six’s spilt up into pairs or threesomes. Here is a taste of what some of the stations were:

A Stain Test: we had three strips of paper: one with felt pen, one with food coloring, and another one that could have been either, but we didn’t find out what it was until we took the test.

Litmus Paper Cola test: we dipped a litmus paper in the victims drink to see if it had been meddled with, then we dipped the paper in Alfredo’s drink (Felix’s friend) to see if it was the same as Felix’s. It wasn’t. Felix’s drink had been messed with.

Smell/Scent Test: Another one of the tests we did was identifying a smell. A scent was left on a towel that was found on the scene. On the station, there were small bottles/samples of the suspects cologne. We smelt the towel then opened one of the bottles and smelled the scent inside until we found the one that matched.

Those examples are just some of the fun things we did.

As a lawyer we had to take the evidence that the detective and forensic scientists gave us (everybody was a detective, forensic scientist and a lawyer). We then decided who was guilty. Even though lawyers may have a lead they can never be sure if they’ve got the right person, unless they confess. Even then you would never know if they where lying or telling the truth.

Overall, it seems that everyone thought that the day was fun, yet challenging. If I could do it again, I would definitely do it!

By: MK

"Journey to Ancient Greece"

The Muse Program: Ancient Athens

Our class went to the University of Alberta to look at old artifacts from Athens, Egypt, Israel, and the Roman Empire General. There were mainly pottery, vases, arrowheads, and Roman coins. We also got to look at them closely and examine pottery from Israel during the Roman Empire, dating back to over three thousand years ago.

Fun Fact: Romans lined all of their wine-making vases with lead.

We made "Powerful Research Questions" out of "Wonder Questions" about pottery made from Athens. Here are some of the "Wonder Questions" our class had and the "Powerful Research Questions" we developed from the "Wonder Questions":
-How did they make the dye? ->
How did they color it with their limited resources since they were isolated?
-What is this artifact used for? ->
Why would they make it like that?
-Why did they choose to paint it black? ->
How important is it that they painted it black; does it have a meaning; what meaning?
-What was it used for? ->
What status of people used it and what did they use it for?
-What was it used for? ->
How does this artifact relate to the roll women played in society?
-What was it used for? ->
How important was the material it was made of?
-What was it? - >
Who used it, what was it for, and which class of people made it?
-Is it supposed to look like something? ->
Does black and white represent a feeling or say something about Ancient Athens?
-I wonder who made it? ->
How important was role of the person who made this artifact in society, because he made useful things?
-I wonder how old it is? ->
What does its age represent?
-I wonder if they used it for holy water? ->
Did they used it for rituals and normal pottery and how?
-What was the original design? ->
What did the design represent and why put it on a jug?
-How old is it? ->
What time period was it made in, and what important person could have owned it?
-How old was it? ->
How long did they use it, how many times did they use it, how long ago was it made, and how long did it take to make?
-How old is it? ->
What was happening in Greece when it was made?


Our class looked at a collection of artifacts, including ancient coins and vases from the Roman Empire...




We were also able to take a closer look at some artifacts from Israel dating back to more than three thousand years ago...

We were amazed at how long these artifacts survived, and especially how some were still perfectly intact.

By: B & L

Some of the Things We Did...

-There was a discussion about ancient vases in an art studio. We made "wonder" questions about a vase we chose to focus on.

-The class broke into two groups... While one got to look at different artifacts up-close and took magnifying glasses and measured them, the other had a scavenger hunt for ancient artifacts in the museum. Each group had a chance to do both activities.

Some Interesting Things We Learned...

-There was a bust with the head of a man, the bodice of a woman, and a newly manufactured neck. The person sold it altogether to increase market value.

-Athena is Athen's patron goddess.

-In Greek mythology, Athena gave Athens olive trees to ward off Poseidon.

R & K

Birds of Prey

The bird people from the valley zoo came. They came to tell us about raptors….

Some interesting information we learned:

Raptors are birds of prey. Raptors have large, sharp talons for gripping and killing talons. The peregrine falcon cannot use its talons; it can fly up to speeds of 350 km/hour, so if they used their talons in a dive bomb, they could rip right off. Instead it “punches” its prey in the neck with its talons in a fist, which kills it instantly. It then flies down and picks its dead, falling prey out of the air.

There were a few owls and birds brought right into our classroom. One of the owls, a great-horned owl, ate a dead chick head-first. It was less than appetizing!

Some Advice:
If you see a raptor lying on the ground, don’t bring it into your house because it may grow attached to you, and when you let it go, it may go to other humans, because it become too comfortable with humans, and may get shot.

By: A’n’J