The World Affairs Challenges gives students the opportunity to address real-world issues.

At Mackintosh Academy, seventh and eighth grade students have been participating in the World Affairs Challenge (WAC) since 2014. This annual challenge asks students to work collaboratively to research, address, and take action on a real-world problem.

This year’s World Affairs Challenge focuses on the water nexus, which is a term that describes the deep connection between several of our planet’s critical domains: water, energy, food, and transportation. For this challenge, Mack students selected a water-related issue and explored how it connected with food, energy, and transportation. Students then created video pitches that explain the issue and propose a potential action (in the challenge lingo, “WACtion”) they could take on to help mitigate the issue or call attention to the issue. 

WAC judges will review the videos and the student groups will then meet virtually for a follow-up interview with the judges. The teams in the top 20% will advance to the WAC World Championships on Saturday, April 1.

In the past, WAC had an in-person element, but in recent years has switched to virtual participation. This allows WAC to reach a global audience of student participants. In 2022, over 900 students participated in WAC, forming teams in schools in 15 different cities across Colorado and in Turkey, Morocco, Iraq, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Collaboration is key in World Affairs Challenge

Mackintosh Middle Years Programme teacher Joe Pausback shared that this year’s challenge has been a great opportunity for students to take on a global issue, dive into it, and work collaboratively on the project.  He added, “There is an element of WAC where we teachers get pretty hands off, which is a little terrifying, but it is validating to watch groups come together, and explore how to creatively present their information and balance that with still delivering the appropriate content.” Mr. Pausback believes that collaborative work is the most beneficial part of WAC.

The students’ pitch videos are available for viewing on the Mackintosh Academy YouTube channel.

Team: Mine WACcidents

Video: Mine Waste

Team: Cheese and QWACkers 

Video: Water Conservation in the Colorado River Basin

Team: ComeWAC of the Century

Video: E.coli in the South Platte River

Team: WACaroni 

Video: Microplastics

We wish all of our MYP students great success in this year’s WAC and will share the results when they’re available!

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Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

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Since 2014, Mackintosh Academy middle school students have participated in the

The WAC is open to middle and high school students from across the globe who work in teams to create innovative solutions. As part of this competition, students consult with subject matter experts to learn about the root causes of a specific global issue, and how it impacts communities. They then design solutions to address the problem and implement community service projects to contribute toward solving the issue. On WAC Event day, student teams present their work to a panel of judges for feedback and scoring. They also take a Global Quiz to assess their knowledge of world issues.

In the week leading into spring break, our Mackintosh middle school students completed and submitted their video presentation on the global issues they had researched. A panel of volunteer judges reviewed these videos and then conducted Zoom interviews with each team. The WACadamia Nuts took third place in the competition for their project focusing on bat conservation. This group investigated the impact of disease, climate change, habitat shift, and human interaction upon the at-risk bat population. As their service project, they built two bat houses to place in local areas to help provide more roosting sites for bats. Their project video is available for viewing here.

The other Mackintosh teams participating in the competition were:

• We’re WAC in Business -This team investigated how climate change affects indigeous populations in Alaska who are having to relocate. Their service included student design artwork (sculpture, watercolor, and digital downloads) to help raise money for those forced to relocate.
• The WAC Meisters – This group researched how kelp farms can help mitigate ocean acidification due to climate change, which is increasing the oceans’ dead spots. They baked cookies and breads with kelp-derived products to have a fundraiser to support organizations that are researching and using kelp farms for environmental support.
• WACamarines – This team examined how lionfish, an invasive species, are affecting Florida’s coral reefs and the surrounding ecosystem. They planned a recycled boat raingutter regatta to raise funds for lionfish mitigation groups.
• Project Chomolungma  – This group delved into a dirty topic – the waste that is left by tourist climbers in the Khumbu Valley, where. Mount Everest (Chomolungma) is found. They made handmade soap to sell to the Mack community to support an organization within the Khumbu region that works to clean up the waste.
• WACxolotls – This group studied axolotls, an endangered species whose home habitat is Lake Xochimilco in Mexico. The water availability for the lake and Mexico City is at a crisis level, greatly affecting the people, habitat and the animals that live within it. The team created plush lovey dolls in the form of the axolotls and sold them to community members to raise funds for an organization working with farmers near Lake Xochimilco to improve environmental conditions.
  

All of the students worked hard to research their chosen issue, interview experts in the field, synthesize the information into a presentation, and create a service project to address the issue. Mackintosh middle school teacher Joe Pausback recognized the value of the experience for all students, saying, “As a teacher, guiding students through WAC feels sort of like driving a big bus down a steep hill and midway down throwing the steering wheel out the window and then watching what happens.  From start to finish each project grows organically and as a teacher my role becomes facilitation.  Each group winds up in their own unique place with their own challenges and needs.  For me the first week or two is hard getting the students to connect with each other and get moving in the same direction.  The best moment usually happens about two weeks in, when each group finally is connected and vested in their project and no longer needs teacher guidance to remain on task. I also love when the students start setting up and conducting their interviews. Another challenging part is keeping up with the expectations from the World Affairs Challenge administration. They have a schedule for when they need certain discrete tasks completed from each group and getting all the pieces down at the right time takes focus and finesse. For some reason this year, the due dates always seemed to come a little before the students were really ready for them.”

Kelly Kates, Mackintosh performing arts teacher and student service coordinator, also supported WAC students. She reflected, “Since it was the first time working with WAC for me, I was really excited about the students having the opportunity to address real world problems and to really have an impact,  It was inspiring to hear about all of the different projects.  It also gave me the opportunity to see our students in a different light as they were so professional while interviewing different people for their projects. Also, during the collaborative question, I got to sit in on all of the interviews with the judges. I took great pride in the fact that every team was told their video was one of the most creative the judges had seen – and I think having 4 of the top 10 teams reflects that.”

The World Affairs Challenge was founded in 2010 as part of what is now the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. The WAC started as a community outreach program to educate students and teachers about global issues. WAC is merging with World Denver, another nonprofit organization that works “to strengthen and expand the community of engaged global citizens and organizations in Colorado through education, cross-cultural exchange, and personal interaction.”  Both WAC and World Denver align with Mackintosh Academy’s mission as an International Baccalaureate school that aims to empower students to make a difference in the world.

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Mack students and teachers celebrated Pi (π) Day on Monday. First declared an unofficial holiday in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw, Pi Day celebrates the mathematical constant of pi (Greek letter π), which begins with 3.14 and has been calculated to over 50 trillion digits. 

Pi Day is observed on March 14 because in the date convention used in the United States (month-day-year), 3/14 aligns with the first three digits of pi. Although other countries do not use this date convention,  Pi Day has caught on around the world. 

Another fortunate coincidence that adds to the appeal of Pi Day is the pun on pi and pie – and the fact that most pies are round – leading to some tasty crossover activities!

At Mack, Pi Day celebrations are a longstanding tradition. The day provides teachers an opportunity to explore the concept of pi with even our very youngest students. As a bonus, these lessons are often accompanied by a slice of pie!

First and second graders in Ms. Monroe’s math class read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi to build a basic understanding of this special number. The first graders also practiced measuring the circumference and diameter of circular objects using rulers and yarn.

In Ms. Guilbert’s third and fourth grade math class, students measured a hula hoop with a piece of string taped around it. They then measured the diameter of the hula hoop in centimeters, multiplied it by pi, and cut that length of string. After taping that string around the hoop, they were excited to see the confirmation that it was indeed the correct circumference. Recent lessons have focused on ratios, so students were intrigued to see pi as the ratio between the diameter and the circumference, rather than simply an interesting series of numbers. As a bonus, one student baked an allergy-free pie for her classmates.

In middle school, Ms. Muench’s group studied the ways in which circles, angles, sides, polygons, and pinwheels are related. They also ate pi-shaped cookies and used the 3D printer to create pi-related trinkets. Ms. Ste.Marie’s math group played a math game with individual pies as prizes. 

Mr. Pausback’s math class celebrated Pi by doing the Buffon Needle Drop test to approximate pi.  Buffon, an 18th century French mathematician and naturalist, approximated pi relatively accurately to about four or five decimal points.  Legend has it that he did this by using a stale baguette. On the floor he drew a series of parallel lines that were spaced apart equal to the length of the baguette. He then tossed the stale baguette over his shoulder a multitude of times, keeping track of the total number of tosses and the number of tosses that resulted in a baguette touching a line. By dividing the former by the latter and multiplying by two, you reach an approximation of pi.  

After tossing sticks approximately 70 times, Mr. Pausback’s class estimated pi to 2.795. The class then discussed geometric probability and why this exercise works. In a future calculus class, students will probably do a more complicated version of this lesson. Since the French word for stick is similar to the word for baguette it is likely that Buffon tossed sticks over his shoulder. The class wrapped up the lesson by eating a fresh baguette.  

By exploring the concept of pi through fun and memorable math lessons across the school, our teachers boost students’ confidence in and enthusiasm for math.

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