Taking science to La Tuque
Seven students from KEC schools qualified for the Quebec Indigenous Science Fair this year. Courtesy Kahnawake Education Center
It was another successful year at the Quebec Indigenous Science Fair for Kahnawake’s budding scientists, with four students returning home from La Tuque with prizes for their work.
“We’re very proud of them, especially because they show so much original thought and innovative ideas, everything that they do comes from their minds,” said Sha’teiohserí:io Patton, principal of Kahnawake Survival School (KSS).
“It’s very inspiring to watch them discover what they’re passionate about and actually pursue that in a scientific project.”
Grade eight student Ashtyn David presented on the Three Sisters at the fair, and grade 10 student Kane Clute presented a dinosaur-focused project titled “Daspletosaurus vs. Ankylosaurus,” taking home a third-place medal for his work.
“(Clute) took a cross-curricular approach where he worked with the art teacher to mould different dinosaur figures how they would be displayed in a museum, so it was really cool to see two of his passions and talents come together,” Patton said.
This year’s fair took place in La Tuque, Quebec, and saw the winners of each Kahnawake Education Center (KEC) school science fair make the journey to compete with Indigenous students from across the province.
Kateri School’s Carmelo Thomas presented a project looking into which type of salt melts ice the fastest, with Konwa’kerá:wi Lahache-DuPont, also from Kateri School, presenting “The Red Stuff,” examining blood splatters.
Karonhianónhnha students were particularly successful at the fair - grade five student Konwaronhiatakwen Phillips took home third place for a project on water filtration, as did grade six students Teiakokarahieshon Rice and Iehtehranonhna Cross for their project on corn production, which analysed traditional and modern methods.
Marc Lalande, president-treasurer of the Quebec Indigenous Science Fair, said he was once again impressed with the projects.
“We really see the quality of projects improving every year,” he said.
He’s watched the science fair evolve over the years - the fair is now in its 26th year - and he said there’s been lots of changes, including more students submitting work as individuals instead of in teams.
“That tells us students are growing more confident. They tell themselves, ‘I can do it by myself too,’” he said.
Around 80 students were in attendance, with representations from nine Indigenous communities - all communities that have schools were able to send students.
Over three days, students took part in science-focused activities, meeting likeminded young scientists and participating in an opening ceremony.
“Some of the students that met each other were saying ‘Bye, we’re going to see you guys next year!’” Lalande said. “The science fair is obviously for students to grow their talents, but at the same time it’s a social activity, they talk to each other, and that’s also a big part of the fair too.”
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Four grand winners are being sent to the Canada-wide science fair (none of those winners are from Kahnawake). That fair will take place in Edmonton later in May.
