Njombe Regional Science Competition

The Njombe Regional Science Conference took place over several eventful days, so I have broken the post up into days to make it easier to follow.

Day 1

Well, my students packed up their bags and boarded the bus bright and early (actually, not bright at all, it was still dark out) Friday, May 16 to head to Njombe. We arrived at the same time as Darryl, my closest Education volunteer and we worked together to get our kids out to the conference center. We all got a small tour of the center and had chai as we waited for the last group of students from Joe’s school to arrive.

After Chai, we did some ice breakers and silly introductions to help us all relax and become more comfortable with each other. Then it was time for their pre-survey (we didn’t want to call it a test) during which they wrote their thoughts about math and science, it’s importance and implementation in Tanzania, etc. 

One student hopping like a frog during our ice breaker to introduce himself

Then we immediately dove into activities and competitions afterward, starting with Jenga Jengo , which translates to build a building. Teams were given 2 boxes of matches and a meter of tape to construct a building. Points were given to the tallest, if the building could withstand a wind test, and the first to complete. After every construction project, students must explain why they designed it the way they did.

A group of students working on their match tower

Match tower entries

 After a lunch break, we set up stations that focused on the use of the scientific method. Students were given background information, then had to formulate hypothesis and finally test their hypothesis. Stations included guessing your lung capacity, acids and bases, washing your hands, mixing colors, etc.

 

Testing lung capacity by displacing water using an iv tube and bottle of water

Darryl teaching about acids and bases

Entranced by Science!

the math station

Now, what have we learned?

After cleaning up the stations and thoroughly destroying any linen that was unfortunate enough to be put in that conference room, we broke for dinner. Students had free time to play sports and games, bathe, eat dinner, and finally wind down by watching a movie.

Day 2

After a not-so-good night’s rest (I feel sorry for every adult to chaperone a high school trip), we hit the ground running with some morning math known as 24 Squares in which students must use the 4 numbers given and any series of operations to make an equation that equals 24. After 24 Squares, we introduced the students to the concept of Sudoku, which they worked on in their spare time for the rest of the conference.

Steve introducing the concept of 24 Squares

After tea break, we regrouped for a lesson on buoyancy and density, culminating in an activity where students were given nothing but straws and foil to construct a boat with the goal of holding the most weight.  Groups first explained the reasoning behind their construction methods and then tested out their boats.

Testing the buoyancy of various items

boat entries

How many nails will it hold?

 The final activity before lunch break was a biology relay which incorporated 3 lessons. Each member of the team had to bend over and do 5 dizzy-bat spins before running to the other end of the course in bed. This was a lesson about balance and the fluid inside the semi-circular canal of the ear. Then each student had to carry a ping-pong ball on a spoon down the course and back to practice balance and coordination. Finally, once each member of the group had completed their physical activities, the students had to work together to place a number of organisms in a logical food chain order. When they got the order complete, the timer was stopped and the cumulative time of the team for the team was recorded. The fastest time won.

balancing a ping pong ball on a spoon

Madame, is the order correct?

my counterpart fell after spinning with her head down and then trying to run

After lunch, was an activity called Build It, Do It.  Joe put together small items made out of simple items. The task was for each team to send one representative outside to study the object and then write instructions on how to build it and what it looked like. The paper was the only thing allowed back in to the room and the other 2 members of the team had to use the instructions to try and build what their team mate saw and wrote about. When time was over, the teams gather back together and we compared the teams creations with the originals. This was a practical implementation of the importance of observations.

How similar do the toilet paper roll bugs look to the original?

 The next activity was about discovering formulas. There were 3 stations set up, biology, math and chemistry. The students rotated around the stations and had to discover formulas. In math, they had to use a homemade geoboard to write formulas to find area and perimeter of shapes. In biology, they worked on classifying different items/organisms by Artificial and Natural classification methods, and they in chemistry, they had to organize elements on the periodic table by only knowing the group and period information.

Geoboard made from cardboard, tape and nails being used to teach area and formulas

Learning about period and groups of the Periodic Table of Elements

How many ways can you group the various organisms?

That remainder of the day was given to the students to work on their science fair projects. They played some sports and games, ran around, bathed, ate dinner and we corralled them to bed yet again.

Day 3

Bright and early the next morning we did more morning math, this time called Four 4’s in which students had to create equations only using Four number 4s and symbols to make the equations equal 1-10. For example, to get the answer of 1, the equation may be (4x4) / (4x4) = 1. After our morning math session,   I taught a lesson about nutrition and how to balance their diet to get all of the vitamins and minerals they need. They were all able to see that the meals they receive at school are not in the least bit balanced, so that is a step in the right direction. 

Teaching about a balanced diet

It was a nice day, so we decided to do an activity outside. This was an activity addressing malaria in which the students were split into two teams with the goal of sticking as many toothpicks into a little cardboard man on the other side of the course as possible. The difference was, one teams cardboard man was exposed and the other was under a mosquito net. At the end of the 2 minutes, there were around 30 mosquito bites (toothpicks) on the exposed man and none on the man under the net because they all could not reach the man through the net. We even peaked the interest of workers at the conference center and passerbys, so hopefully they learned something too.  This activity then lead into a great discussion about how malaria is spread, how communities can work together to eradicate it, etc.

Malaria demonstration relay

 The next activity was new and wasn’t originally part of the schedule. Joe thought of it on the spot and named it Aquaduct Assembly, but it turned out to be incredibly successful and educational! The students were given random materials and posed with a problem: There is a village and the closest water supply was a river quite a ways away. They were to construct a device to transport water 1 meter. They would have 2 minutes to pour water through their device and the group with the most water at the end would be the winner. Many groups made a fatal error, forgetting that paper absorbs water and after a few seconds of contact with water became saturated and collapsed.

 

The winning team explaining how they designed their aquaduct

pictures of the river on the right and the village on the left to help explain the problem and the goal of the activity

From this point on, teams were given the rest of the night to wrap up their Sudoku puzzles, additional  Four 4’s puzzles and their science fair projects as they were to present them the next night.

Day 4

As we awake to the last full day of the conference, all of us teachers realize how utterly exhausted we are, but we muster up the energy to fight another day. The morning activities included building card towers and a chemistry matching game which Darryl and his counterpart made up in which students had to match the cations and anions. 

matching cations and anions

The following activity was none other than our favorite game show: Jeopardy. The students chose from different categories and were then posed different math related puzzles about sequencing, unscrambling words, patterns and word problems; the bigger the point value, the more difficult the question. The students love competition, so they really got into it.

Then was on to the last big competitive event of the conference: Bridge buider. This was another construction activity, but this time, it was a little different. The students were given a certain amount of fake money and had to purchase the materials necessary to build their bridges. Points were awarded to the teams who could hold the most weight, and additional points were given for any money that was leftover. 

bridge construction

This time, the evening was spent with the students completing their post-test and then presenting their science fair projects, almost like an expo. The students were told to create a project, model, poster, etc that incorporated 1 or more science subjects that they are interested in. This was probably the highlight of the conference because the students all gave presentations about their projects and then the other students were able to ask them questions about it. One group made one of the best circuits I have ever seen! I was so impressed.

The amazing circuit group! also showed how you can use a cut bottle of water as a candle holder if you put a nail in the bottom of the candle to shift the center of gravity

made a pendulum to show potential and kinetic energy

This group made a wind turbine model. It was very functional!

Cell posters as well as a model of an plant cell in a plastic bag for the cell membrane with a balloon inside to represent a large, permanent vacuole. They also included leaves to represent chloroplasts and placed the whole thing  in a box to represent the cell wall. 

representation of the digestive system

the formation of carbon dioxide using baking soda and vinegar

Day 5  

The final morning was upon us. We were sad to see it end, but we were all so tired that we were also pretty excited to get some rest. That morning, the students did their final project, and that was to write thank you letters to the donors of the grant which allowed us to put the conference on.
The original plan was then to leave and go back to site in the afternoon, but Darryl went above and beyond and scheduled us a tour at the milk and cheese factory of Njombe which just happened to be right down the street. We packed up our things and headed out. The tour was perfect to tie into the science conference, because they got to see and try a real life application of titration, centrifuges, acids and bases, bacteria, etc. They even got a free sample of yogurt when they left. After the tour, we headed into town and immediately caught busses back to our villages.

And of course we had fun taking pictures the next day!

Group shot of everyone at the conference including PCVs, counterparts and students

Representing MNGSS. I'm so proud of my students

PCV Njombe Science Teachers

Darryl, Steve and I in our sanitary gear to enter the factory

Yes, when you live in TZ, cheese and milk is this exciting!

 The conference was a whirlwind, but I know that I enjoyed every second of it and so did my students. It was so inspiring to see the creativity and abilities of these bright students in a setting where they were encouraged to really use their brains and do hands-on science, the way it’s meant to be learned. In the Tanzanian system like most education systems now, teachers are so focused on students passing standardized tests, that we forget what it means to really learn. This conference reminded me of the potential that exists in all of my students and it's my job to help them realize it.