STEAM expo highlights student projects
RUSSELLVILLE – Middle school students in sixth, seventh and eighth grade presented the findings of their STEAM Expo projects last week.
From testing which glue is stronger to testing fishing line strength and whether plants grow better indoors or outdoors, the school’s annual expo featured a wide range of hands-on projects in the areas of science, technology, engineering, art and math.
Eighth graders Alana Morgan and Penelope Richardo their project deals with how people notice things visually in busy environments.
RMS teachers Lee Brownell and Alannah Hill oversaw the expo.
“The idea with the STEAM Expo is to encourage students to be engaged in projects that make them think,” he said. “They develop skills that they can use not only in school but also in industry when they leave school and pursue careers.”
The project of seventh graders Andres Tomas, Genesis Figueroa and Karina Tomas focused on growing tomatoes.
Hill said they tell the students the expo is a good chance to apply what they have been learning by doing their own projects.
“The students do their own research and come to their own conclusions,” she said. “You can see the interest they have in the projects reflected in the quality. Every year, we are surprised by the things they are interested in and what they want to try to do.”
Sixth graders Case Fugate, Linlee Vincent, Emmanuel Larios and Lorie Herndon said they determined blackberries to be the most pigmented fruit, and mango to be the least pigmented.
“We learned each fruit has its own level of pigment,” Herndon said. “We rubbed each fruit for 15 seconds, and which one had the most color is what we classified as having the most pigment.”
Seventh graders Andres Tomas, Genesis Figueroa and Karina Tomas Miguel studied whether plants grow better indoors or outdoors. They won second place in their grade division.
The project of eighth graders Jimena Jimenez, Alina Felipe and Myka Hallmark delved into which type of glue is strongest.
Tomas said they found growing the plants outdoors to provide better growing results.
“Outside, the plants could get better air and sun and have more natural surroundings,” she said. “We had a lot of fun and enjoyed working on the project together.”
Eighth graders Alana Morgan and Penelope Richard explored the ways people handle distractions differently with visual searches.
“Being aware of the factors involved is helpful because we can use this information in everyday life because we are always looking for stuff,” Morgan said.
Eighth graders Jimena Jimenez, Alina Felipe and Myka Hallmark explored which glue is strongest. Hallmark said the group glued Legos using Gorilla glue, super glue and hot glue.
“Super glue was the strongest,” she said. “We dropped glued Legos to see how they held up.”
WINNERS
Sixth-grade winners: Overall winner:
Coldest Thermal Brand of Cup – Anne Swinney, Addi Rikard and Kennedie Keeton First place: Testing Fishing Line – Ian Stephenson, Mays Knight, Jase Lane and Case Howard Second place: Candle Color Burns Faster – Baylor Bradford) Third place: Chia Seeds — Alexa Lopez, Genesis Tristan and Shiloh Estevez Seventh-grade winners: First place: Which house design best resists natural disasters? – Drake Glass, Elijah Willis, Greyson Bundy and Manuel Francisco Lopez Second place: Do plants grow better indoors or outdoors? – Andres Tomas, Karina Tomas Miguel and Genesis Figueroa.
Third place: Ants vs. Liquids – Kenley Smith, Zahlayah Liles, Angel Vargas and Michael Mateo.
Eighth-grade winners: First place: Which bath bomb dissolves fastest? — Magdalena Miguel.
Second place: Which drink thermos maintains temperature most effectively? — Callie Odom and Maci Boyd.
Third place: The Penny Project — Isabel Felipe Francisco, Marivel Miguel Francisco, Jacqueline Torres Martinez and Ashley Cienfuegos-Alcantara.
