Registration forms will be sent out in your child's folder this week for the Burr STEM Fair, which will be held on Friday, January 26th, 2018, from 6:30-8pm in the Burr cafetorium. Save the date, and start thinking with your young scientists and engineers about what they want to explore!
Make sure to SAVE YOUR ELECTRONICS!!! Don't throw them away! Last year's reverse engineering table was a fun way for kids to take apart old electronics and see what's inside. Curiosity is the first step in developing a love of technology, so let's have a good full table of stuff to explore this year- bring your old electronics so we can take them apart. Anything other than TV screens or phones (screens may be dangerous).
Also, are you in a STEM-related career field? Want to do a demonstration at the STEM fair? Please e-mail Laura Sexton at
laurasexton1@hotmail.com.
Here are some guidelines and ideas and look for registration forms in student folders this week. Forms can be returned in your child's folder.
STEM Fair Guidelines:
~Kid-quality projects only. Parent support is great (and may be necessary for younger students), but let the students take the lead.
~Students can work alone or in teams. Team members can be in different grades.
~Projects can be inventions (a new gadget to solve a problem), displays (show off something cool you know) or question-hypothesis-experiment-conclusion investigations (guess how something works, try it out and see what happens).
~Experiments that need to be done over multiple days are ok. Do them at home, take photos along the way and show off your results at the STEM Fair!
~Each project should fit on a 2’ x 3’ table space and have a kid-quality poster explaining what you did and the science behind it. You can use words, drawings or photos. Do not get hung up on the quality of the poster. Short and simple is best — it will help you explain your project to the other students!
~Be sure to include your name(s) and grade(s) on your poster.
~Projects do not have to work perfectly. It’s the idea that counts.
~Electrical outlets are limited, and not guaranteed. Let us know right away if your project will need electricity.
~Safety is key! Please make sure that your project is safe. We need to ensure the safety of the gym floor too – please ensure all materials are non-toxic, non-staining and non-corrosive. No dry ice is permitted. Nothing explosive please!
~Students are encouraged to be creative and use common household and upcycled materials. Batteries are allowed, but gas, propane and latex is not allowed. Food may be part of the project (but NO nuts, please!).
~The gadget or experiment may not be harmful to any living thing. Projects that appear unsafe will be asked to be removed.
Project set-up time will be 6pm to 6:30pm.
