April 26, 2011

The Halton District School Board is holding the finals this week of its 31st Annual Think Bowl competition, which is a fun opportunity for critical thinking challenges for more than 600 elementary students.

The Board hosted preliminaries for junior students April 5-7 and for intermediate students April 14-15. Junior finals were held Friday, April 28 (First place: E.J. James; Second place: King's Road; Third place: Joshua Creek) while intermediate finals were held Thursday, May 5 (First place: Charles R. Beaudoin; Second place: John T. Tuck; Third place: Pilgrim Wood).

In Think Bowl, students analyze a problem scenario, brainstorm the actual, real-world problems, create solutions – with work also shown in a booklet – and present them in a drama presentation before a judging panel.  The students are judged on their drama skills and booklet solutions. The problems are based on various parts of the curriculum. Juniors, for example, could involve the social studies or science strands. In the preliminary competitions on April 15, 80 Grades 7-8 students worked out a problem involving healthy eating and lifestyle – food as being necessary for survival while providing a greater understanding of the influences of what we eat and how vital it is to improved health and wellbeing.

“Our competitions involve more than 600 of our students and provide them with an opportunity to challenge their critical thinking and problem solving skills,” says Mary Kebalo-Plata, the Board’s Regional Itinerant Resource Teacher for Gifted Students. “The competition involves an element of drama, with the students being asked to present their solutions, as a play, to an audience of their peers, family members and teachers. This annual event is always highly anticipated and well attended.  It's awesome to watch the quality of the drama presentations and to see the excitement of the participants.”