Fifth Grade Girls Conduct Science Experiments During STEM Day
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(Photo by Shelley Hanson)
Fifth graders Victoria Stumm and Saydie Cain watch as their homemade lava lamps begin to bubble during the CTE Girls STEM Day at John Marshall High School on Tuesday. The girls attend Sand Hill Elementary School.
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(Photo by Shelley Hanson)
Central Elementary School fifth graders Nova Howard, at left, and Maddie Murphy pose with their smashed pumpkin during the CTE Girls STEM Day at John Marshall High School on Tuesday.
By SHELLEY HANSON
Staff Writer
GLEN DALE — Fifth graders got the chance to conduct fun science experiments during the Marshall County Schools Career and Technical Education Department’s 5th annual CTE Girls STEM Day at John Marshall High School on Tuesday.
The students created homemade lava lamps, attempted to make a bridge out of notecards strong enough to hold a water bottle, played a computer coding game with mini robots, smashed pumpkins to see and learn about their insides and more.
Heather McCord, vocational assessments facilitator for CTE and adult education programs, said the program started five years ago when Vex Robotics wanted to support getting girls more interested in science and robotics during the International Day Of The Girl.
She said fifth graders were chosen to help prepare them to participate in different science activities and clubs when they enter middle school.
“We hope that it does help them find out about the robotics and hopefully get them excited, that they remember the hands-on stuff. And hopefully they like it,” McCord said.
More than 150 fifth-grade girls participated from all of Marshall County’s elementary schools.
To make the lava lamp, students filled a small plastic bottle about half-way with vegetable oil. They filled it the rest of the way with water. Then they put in a few drops of food coloring, which mixes with the water that sank to the bottom of the bottle. Then, the students dropped pieces of Alka-Seltzer into the bottle and watched it bubble like a lava lamp.