‘Science fair, but for social studies’: Edmonton students dive into Canadian history

Nearly 140 Edmonton students displayed their work to showcase what they've learned about Canada's history, geography, culture and heritage.

Students from Grades 4 through 9 were flexing their niche knowledge of Canada on Saturday after months of research and writing.

The Edmonton Regional Heritage Fair saw nearly 140 students across the city showcasing what they’ve learned about Canada’s history, geography, culture or heritage.

“It’s like a science fair, but for social studies,” said fair society board member Christina Hardie.

Judges from around the community were scoring students based on the quality of their work, which Hardie said was largely exceptional, given the excitement from students to dive into their topics.

“They get to choose their own topic. When kids get to explore something that interests them about Canadian history and heritage, there’s a lot more buy-in because they get to choose a topic that’s meaningful for themselves,” she said.

Grade 7 student Ain Alsaba, for example, was inspired by her dad to research Canadian space exploration.

“Canada has been quietly shaping space exploration in ways people don’t imagine,” she told CTV News Edmonton at the fair Saturday. “It’s important for youth like us to learn about this now, because we’ll be the ones learning and leading as innovators in the future.”

Ayush Krishnan and Haransh Chugh, also in Grade 7, chose a classic Alberta topic: oil.

“First of all, oil is huge to the economy. I mean, a large part of the jobs in Alberta revolve around oil … it’s an interesting topic,” Krishnan said.

“We were thinking, why don’t we talk about it more, and tell the backstory of how it really happened and changed Canada and Alberta’s wealth drastically,” Chugh added.

Benjamin Gee, a teacher with the Edmonton Islamic Academy, said the fair taught students “responsible citizenship and reconciliation.”

“Students learning about the land and the people is a form of reconciliation … The Edmonton Regional Heritage Fair empowers students to have a voice in their learning,” he said.

The two top scoring students from Saturday’s event will advance to Canada’s National Heritage Fair. Awards will also be handed out for topics like best use of primary sources and best military, Indigenous and governance history.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall