Continuing the now well-established tradition, from January 11 to January 13 of 2022, the Innovation Club at AAIA hosted the annual Lion’s Lair competition for Middle School students. During these three days, students were divided into 18 groups of 4 and given the task of creating a product, service, or solution to tackle a difficult topic. This year the topic was “Feeding the World’s Population More Sustainably and Safely”. Students were expected to develop creative and feasible ideas, design an appealing prototype, and effectively communicate their solution via a 5 minutes pitch, demonstrating in that way that they excel at the Expected Schoolwide Learner Outcomes (ESLO’s ).
During the first day, students brainstormed ideas and started developing their solutions. During day two, additional work time was given, followed by a networking event in which groups mingled and shared ideas with teachers and staff to get feedback, after which they went back to work and adjust their plan. During the third day, students continued working and finally had the qualifier presentation round in 5 separate classrooms. The winners of each room then moved ahead to the final round where the top 3 teams were selected. This year’s winners proposed a new type of genetically modified crop that needs less water and other resources to grow, effectively tackling the issue at hand.
