Plunkett School Students Explore STEM Topics
ADAMS, Mass. — C.T. Plunkett Elementary School students have embarked on a two-month STEM enrichment after-school program focused on robotics, chemistry, programing and much more.
Students in Grades 3 through 5 have been spending Wednesday afternoons learning about science, technology, engineering and math from multiple perspectives.
"Some weeks they do more chemistry-type things, other weeks they do physics-related things like rockets and paper airplanes," teacher Laura Scholz said. "It gives them the ability to learn the sciences in a more interactive way, and it uses different senses to really help them relate to what is going on."
Some students were making a goopy concoction on Wednesday while in the other room, children were programming Lego creations to kick a ball. Some in the treasure hunter group were out geocaching and using Global Positioning System to find hidden objects.
Science and technology teachers from the high school as well as General Dynamics employees volunteered their time to engage the students and help show them that science can be fun.
"It takes the math and science that they learned during the day and relates it to other things," Scholz said. "And it's fun ... and helps get them interested in science topics. It might even introduce them to something in science they have never seen before."
The projects vary from week to week. This past Wednesday, the kids in robotics were programing a wheeled Lego creation to scurry across a mat while life science students were pinpointing the proper way to wash their hands to clean off black glitter that represented bacteria.
Scholz said the program runs for six weeks and 48 kids are involved. The program costs $35 per student.
She said she hopes that some kids learn to love science through this program and maybe even consider a career field in the sciences when they are older.
"I hope they learn about different sciences and also learn to enjoy science, especially at this age. If they think it is fun they may want to continue it through high school," she said. "They may look this stuff and want to have a career in it."
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