The
Western Maryland STEM Festival
By
Rainier Ramos
Frostburg
(M.D.) May 5th, 2018
FROSTBURG – On Saturday May 5th, Frostburg
State University hosted its annual Western Maryland STEM Festival. The event
ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in FSU’s Physical Education Center Arena.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and
math.
A large variety of tables filled the campus gym with
exhibits that were fun, educational, and hands-on. Open to K-12 students,
children were excited as they got to do activities that interested them while
providing them with knowledge.
Sean Jones, Education Major and member of FSEA helped
kids create their own roller coasters at his exhibit. Paper and tape were the
only materials used to make the roller coasters.
Sharp turns on the roller coasters were made of the
brims of paper plates, and the exhibit provided the kids with opportunities for
endless creativity.
“They made something that’s what I wanna hear!” said
Jones.
Jones was happy to let kids be able to experience with
their creativity, their eyes in fascination as the ball rolled down the track.
Ben Strozykowski and Michael Fiscus had an exhibit
that combined a medieval tradition, the Avengers, and robotics. A Spider-man
and Hulk action figure faced each other as they both rode on lego robots.
Both robots had poles to joust with and they followed
the same track each time. Strozykowski and Fiscus are part of REACT, Robotics
and Engineering in Allegany County Together.
Robotics for kids are the next level of toys, and
Fiscus has seen that.
“Playing with legos was cool as a kid, and robotics
makes it so much more funner”, said Strozkykowski.
Education students Melissa Shank, Kara McKinley,
Chesni Ultis and Joni Miller had a boat-making exhibit.
The exhibit offered kids a chance to make a tin foil
boat and put as many pennies in the boat until it sinks. The students
encouraged the kids to try out different shapes and find out what works the
best to hold the most pennies.
“With little kids this helps their counting skills,
and the wider, flat boat shape works the best”, said Shank.
Running the exhibit was beneficial to the four
students as they received extra credit, and something they could put on their
portfolio. As education students, hands-on learning with children is a major
part in being a successful teacher.
Allegany Robotics had an exhibit showcasing some off
some of their best competitive robots they’ve built. The organization gets
together frequently at venues such as high schools and colleges to battle their
electronic creations against each other.
The competitive robot team, the “A-team” recently made
it into the finals for Maryland’s state robotics championship. Competitive
robotics offers them a chance to learn, create, and compete.
“Building robots and programming are very fun”, said
Logen Wolford, A-team competitor.
At the exhibit, kids had to chance to control a robot
with an Xbox controller themselves. The goal of exhibit was to use the robot to
pick up a box, then drop it into a larger box.
The Western Maryland STEM Festival had a tremendous
amount of exhibits and activities related to topics concerning STEM. Happiness,
fascination, and excitement could be seen on the faces of all the kids inside
the gym.
https://www.facebook.com/alleganyrobotics/
- Allegany Robotics homepage
Photo: Allegany Robotics’ mascot that strolled around
the exhibits during the festival.
Photo: (Left to Right) Education Students Kara McKinley, Chesni Ultis, Melissa Shank and Joni Miller at their exhibit.
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