SMS Students Practice STEM Experiments with 21st Century Learning Grant

The 21st Century Learning Center Grant Award has allowed Solvay Middle School fifth grade students the opportunity to participate in the Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) program on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Mrs. Alton and Ms. Farrell.
 
Learning about static electricity, the students created Halloween figures out of tissue paper and made them stand with friction from a balloon. Using their engineering skills, students worked in groups and pairs to create structures using various materials, such as marshmallows, toothpicks, spaghetti, gumdrops, and candy corn. The students measured the height of these structures and refined them to increase the height.
 
Other projects and experiments from the fifth grade STEM program included catapults and slime. Students created catapults out of craft sticks and rubber bands. Using these catapults, they measured the distance their object traveled. After learning the science behind slime, students enjoyed creating slime with a partner.
 
A favorite experiment was creating a parachute for a Lego person. Students dropped these parachutes, and based on their time in hundredths of a second, reflected on their construction and refined their parachute to increase their drop time. Lastly, in experimenting with sound students made a harmonica and changed the pitch by manipulating the materials they used. Collaboration with peers has afforded these students opportunities to use their science, math, and engineering skills while working together to accomplish common goals. 

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