Local elementary school students in grades K-5 got their first taste of competitive science at the annual STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) expo at Farmingdale High School on Dec. 20. Students were split up into divisions based on their grade; each division had a winner and attendees had a chance to vote for a People’s Choice Award. Projects ranged from the classic baking soda and vinegar volcanoes to those that sought to answer the age-old question of which makes a superior pet, cat or dog?
The fair was optional for kids in district elementary schools, but Cummings, the director of Farmingdale High School’s science department, said she hopes that participation in the science fair will be “incorporated into the elementary school curriculum.” She also commended the high school students and recent alumni that made the fair possible. “I’m mostly here to watch, the high school students have been amazing.”
This is only the second year that Farmingdale High School has hosted the expo, which was created last year by Caeley Looney, a Farmingdale alumni and current student at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, as part of her Girl Scout Gold award project. Several other volunteer students from the high school, as well as teachers, and even a few recent Farmingdale alumni, also volunteered to help out at the fair and expo.
“It’s good that kids are getting exposed to STEM at such a young age, so they won’t be scared of it later on,” Looney said. “Most kids don’t take in-depth science classes until ninth grade.”
According to Looney, the expo was another way kids were exposed to STEM. They got to drive around a student-made robot at one table, build their own lava lamps at another and see how different designs affect the flight of paper gliders. Representatives from Microsoft and We Connect the Dots, were also present with interactive activities for the kids, which showed the applications of science in the real world.
At the end of the event, the judges crowned the winners. In the grade K-1 division student Chase McQuade took third place, Aiden Denecke took second and first place went to Daniel Hilton. In the grade 2-3 division, student Audrey Malanga placed third, Emma Denecke came in second and Maya and Amanda Puff came in first. For the grade 4-5 division, Faith Williams came in third, Anthony DiPaolo in second and Andrew Hilton in first. Arinasnne Teyathas also won for the best overall project and Chase McQuade won the People’s Choice award.
