Challenges & competitions
Intra- and inter-school challenges for the rural schools running Timeless Lifeskills clubs and STEM 2.0 labs, so students can do hands-on, project-based work and find their own solutions to real problems.
Five Isha Vidhya schools in rural Tamil Nadu, May to July 2019. Teams researched topics such as the evolution of life, the periodic table and environmental problems, then presented them.
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Six Isha Vidhya schools tested water in nearby villages, built their own filters and researched water conservation. Includes the challenge brief and winning reports as PDFs.
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Projects on sustainable living in and around the school.
Why challenges?
Real understanding of a topic shows when knowledge can be applied in a new context. Most exams do not test this; they test recall of facts, usually learnt by rote.
Challenges and competitions give students the chance to apply what they know in new situations. They also build the skills needed to shine in the 21st century: complex problem-solving, creativity, collaboration, planning, decision-making, time and resource management, and a better feel for real-world issues.
Some challenges are designed and run as intra- and inter-school competitions; students are also encouraged to enter regional, national and global competitions.