Students from Doerfler Public School created an Unbreakable lightbulb, using a no-glare acrylic sheet, lighter, LED lightbulb, plastic bag and tape.
(Photo/Karen Stokes)
By Karen Stokes
More than 600 students from 54 MPS schools displayed their science and engineering expertise on Thursday at the 16th annual MPS STEM Fair at the Wisconsin Center.
The Fair empowers the next generation of STEM professionals by encouraging an enthusiasm for science and technology.
Ahmed Mohamed and Kalipt Johnkikn demonstrating their Rocket Wheels experiment. (Photo by Karen Stokes)
Students ranging from K-4 through 12th grade, explored authentic and innovative science, technology, engineering & math (STEM) projects and shared with attendees and judges.
“The younger kids are doing true science fair experiments, they have a hypothesis, they do a procedure, do the experiment, they collect data. Some of the older kids are able to do different types of projects, they come up with building things and there’s a research category where they gather data,” said Kelly Rickman Bosh from the MPS Foundation.
This is a STEM challenge using plastic cutlery and encouraging architectural skills to build the tallest structure possible. The tallest was 28 inches, which was set in 2019. (Photo/Karen Stokes)
With more students and schools participating than ever before, this will be the largest district-wide MPS STEM Fair since its inception in 2007.
“I’m interested in engineering and the technology side of it all. Technology is my strong suit. I love programming, I’ve been doing it since I was four or five. I would always be up for a NASA internship,” said Henry Martin, 7th grader from Golda Meir.
Henry Martin, 7th grade student at Golda Meir project Kinected allows people that are non verbal to use ambient intelligence or smart home devices using hand gestures instead of voice commands.
(Photo/Karen Stokes)
Martin’s project Kinected allows people that are non-verbal to use ambient intelligence or smart home devices using hand gestures instead of voice commands.
Projects are divided into three categories: Science Inquiry (answering a question), Engineering Design (solving a problem), and Research Study (high school only).
Iyana Benson, Narea Wagner both from Golda Meir and Treyneil Hardmon from Bradley Tech organized a Trash Clean Up project. (Photo/Karen Stokes)
The projects ranged from Tiny House Design, Garden Revitalization and an Unbreakable light bulb. In all of these projects the students were persistent and through trial and error, solutions were found.
Andrew Wellinghoff, one of the science instructional coaches from MPS said, “Every year we put on a district STEM Fair and we coordinate with teachers. Our students have a lot of curiosity and as educators we just need to give them outlets and opportunities to build upon that creativity and develop their critical thinking skills.”
A project for 2 Auer Avenue students was rocket wheels using a plastic bottle, corks, vinegar and baking soda to make a model car move forward.
(Photo/KarenStokes)
The event was made possible by the MPS Foundation and GE HealthCare.