The STEM initiative prepares our students for success by equipping them with 21st Century Skills. STEM aligns our elementary curriculum with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the most exciting part is how the learning experiences genuinely engage students, including those historically underrepresented in STEM fields. This year, Somerset Elementary School encourages studies in science, technology, engineering and medicine through STEM Week at the school, May 11-15, 2015 with Pacific Science Center presentations culminating in a Science Fair and Carnival on May 15th. Hosted by the Somerset Elementary PTSA, this year's fair is open to all grades.
SCIENCE FAIR & PROJECTS
At the Elementary School level, Science fair and volcanoes or Coke and Mentos may go hand in hand, but the ever popular demonstration is not actually a science fair project. A science fair project asks a “what if” question, which leads to a variable and eventually finding an answer or at the very least, a big discovery. A science demonstration, like our volcano, is used to illustrate a science concept. But can you take a demonstration and turn it into a science fair project? Absolutely. All you need to do is "C3" it. The three C’s stand for Change, Create and Compare. Find an idea or an experiment that you are interested in, change something, create a new experiment and then compare your results. If your project contains the three C’s, it qualifies as a science fair project. Let’s take the three C’s and apply them to the Mentos and Coke demonstration. We know Coke works well with Mentos to produce a soda geyser, but what about other sodas? Do you get the same reaction with root beer? Or what about Diet Coke? In this project, we are going to ask the question, “What if I change the type of soda?” We now have our first C – Change. The type of soda will change. That will be our variable. The variable is something that changes in the experiment. Now, we can move on to our second C – Create. Our experiment will test different types of soda with Mentos. Let’s pick root beer, Sprite and Diet Coke. We will also have a bottle of Coke as our control. A control is where the variable does not change. We know Coke works and we are testing the other sodas against it. Nothing else in the experiment will change. We will use the same size of soda, same number of Mentos, same temperature, etc. The last C – Compare. As you run your experiment and test the different sodas, note the dependent variable – how high each soda shoots in the air. Which one went the highest? The lowest? How do they each compare to the control’s height? Dropping the Mentos into the Coke and shooting soda all over the science fair is not a project. Applying the three C’s to the demonstration to make a discovery IS a science fair project. You can apply the three C’s to any demonstration to turn it into a project, including the carbonated beverages. Start with finding one variable to change and you are on your way. That being said, all Somerset Elementary students are invited (not required) to enter a project in the fair! K-4 students are welcome to enter either a demonstration or experiment project but 5th grade students are asked to enter an experiment project, challenging them to think critically about scientific ideas, principles or procedures.
If you are going to enter a project in the Fair, please complete a Project Proposal Form and drop it off at the PTSA Box in the front office no later than Friday, April 24th. Feel free to also use the attached Project Notebook to document your project. This should be kept with your project. All complete projects should be brought to the school gym on the morning of Thursday, May 14 to be set up.
Do you need ideas or inspiration for your project? Visit Steve Spangler Science at http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments OR check out "SICK SCIENCE" at https://www.youtube.com/user/SteveSpanglerScience. Please make sure you conduct all experiments under parental supervision.
SCIENCE CARNIVAL
Join us Friday, May 15th at 5:30PM in the gym for our annual Carnival and Fair. View your student's projects and enjoy the hands-on fun with Mad Science! Food and drink will be available for purchase. If you have any questions, contact Michael Ketchum at ketchcetera@gmail.com.
