Saigon STEAM Fair 2018

On Saturday 7th April, two teams of STEAM enthusiasts representing BIS HCMC attended the 2nd annual Saigon STEAM Fair held at the International School, Ho Chi Minh City.

STEAM is an educational approach that combines Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics to encourage student enquiry and critical thinking. By integrating these various disciplines our students are encouraged to take risks, problem-solve, be creative and embrace collaboration enabling them to become 21st Century thinkers.

The focus of the 2018 STEAM Fair was a spotlight on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Participants were tasked with using one of the Global Goals to guide their STEAM project, allowing students to apply their knowledge and skills in Science and Technology to real life problems we face in the world today.

The two teams representing BIS HCMC entered the Rube Goldberg section of the Saigon STEAM Fair, following in the footsteps of our whole school NAE Global Challenge entry in 2016. A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention, device or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).

One of our teams, Mimi Tran, Cooper Rowe and Anh Khoi Pham used recycled materials from the Design Technology workshops to turn a page. The second team, Tyler Carriaga, Lauren Chau and Raji Ramanathan, used the skills they have developed in Design and Technology to laser cut a device which flicks on a switch, in 10 steps!

It was a fantastic way for the students to apply their learning in Science and Design Technology and to further develop their problem-solving skills. We were very proud to see Mimi, Cooper and Anh Khoi come in third place overall, with the judges particularly impressed at how their design was environmentally conscious.

Matt Lambert, Head of Science

#SustainableBIS #NAEUNICEF