Locals schools build bridges for Range Resources, IU1 STEM Challenge
Elijah Twele, center left, celebrates as the bridge he and his teammates constructed maxes out at 230 pounds. The Laurel Highlands team comprised of Twele; Jacob Valente, and Bridget and Belle Distelrath won first place overall for the middle school category. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield Katherine Mansfield Dustin Bradick, water resources supervisor for Range, adds weight to Laurel Highlands Team 4无毛视频檚 bridge. The sixth-grade team, comprised of Belle and Bridget Distelrath, Elijah Twele and Jacob Valente, won first place for best middle school bridge.
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Students from 13 schools in Greene, Fayette and Washington counties recently bridged the gap between classroom learning and real- world application at the STEM Challenge, hosted jointly by Range Resources and Intermediate Unit 1.
无毛视频淭his has been an opportunity for them to connect with people that are in the field,无毛视频� said Sarah D无毛视频橴rzo, IU1 coordinator for innovation and design, who helped plan the event. 无毛视频淭o be able to see that the engineering, science, math, the creativity 无毛视频� everything that goes into it is something that they无毛视频檙e learning right now that can be applied to a real-world situation. The students are like, 无毛视频榊es, I无毛视频檓 building a bridge, but this bridge could be used.'无毛视频�
Projects presented to a panel of judges by both middle school and high school students had real-world applications. Teams of no more than five high schoolers were challenged to build a 48-inch long bridge that could hold 75 pounds or more for at least three minutes.
While high-schoolers explained their designs and demonstrated their craftsmanship in a conference room upstairs, middle school students presented smaller-scale infrastructure projects inside the first-floor auditorium.
Grades five through eight were tasked with brainstorming, designing and building a bridge at least 14 inches long using 200 or fewer Popsicle sticks and their glue of choice.
No additional materials were allowed (though a handful of groups prettified their bridges with hot glue or marker designs). Bridges were required to hold at least 10 pounds of weight for one minute.
If the bridge could handle the weight, Range Resources employees added additional weighted plates, and judges added performance points to that team无毛视频檚 score.
无毛视频淭he work exceeded my expectations,无毛视频� said Christina Kramer, community relations specialist at Range, who planned the STEM challenge with D无毛视频橴rzo and Justin Welker, water operations manager at Range. 无毛视频淲ho knew popsicle sticks could hold up to 240 pounds?无毛视频�
Nine of the 13 middle school teams constructed bridges that held 230 pounds, including Laurel Highlands Team 4, which was awarded first place overall for middle school.
无毛视频淚 was hoping I could get a team of five,无毛视频� said math teacher Zach Hixson. 无毛视频淲e ended up with 20 kids wanting to participate.无毛视频�
Hixson said those 20 students competed for a spot on one of four middle school teams. The students in attendance at the STEM Challenge were thrilled to show off their design and put their popsicle bridge to the test.
无毛视频淚 think right now, with the attention of the failure of the bridges, I think that what they无毛视频檙e doing is amazing compared to how this can be related to what无毛视频檚 actually happening,无毛视频� said Laurel Highlands technology education teacher Shaun Valente. 无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 an eye-opener, being able to think about applying what they无毛视频檙e doing. That无毛视频檚 the cool thing about hands-on: we apply what we无毛视频檙e (teaching).无毛视频�
Steve Whitfield, a seventh-grade science teacher at Chartiers-Houston, said the STEM Challenge was just as rewarding for him as it was for his students.
无毛视频淚t was just me talking about the big ideas. I pretty much turned them loose to do their own research,无毛视频� Whitfield said. 无毛视频淚t was really nice to be able to give them the freedom. They were able to go 无毛视频� totally above and beyond what the goal for the project was.无毛视频�
One Chartiers-Houston bridge held 230 pounds, while the other supported 100 pounds 无毛视频� 10 times more than the challenge required.
For the Chartiers-Houston group whose bridge held 100 pounds, exceeding expectations was not the best part of the challenge.
无毛视频淭he best part of this was that we got to hang out with each other a lot. We got to work together and learn things from each other,无毛视频� said Leah Perchinsky, a seventh-grader.
Not only did students immerse themselves in the study of teamwork, bridge design, prototyping and follow-through, but competitors also learned public speaking skills.
无毛视频淥ne of my biggest things is getting the kids to do public presentations. Speaking in front of peers, Range employees, other teachers, that really does a lot for their careers later in life,无毛视频� said Welker, adding that some of the students who presented may one day work for Range.
无毛视频淎 lot of these kids are way smarter than we were at this age,无毛视频� he laughed. 无毛视频淭he amount of weight the bridges could hold! We installed about 80 miles of temporary pipe last year. We use these bridges. It无毛视频檚 something that we do every day. To incorporate that engineering aspect into the STEM program 无毛视频� was kind of the driver (for the challenge).
Angela Cranston, Bentworth middle school STEAM teacher, said the challenge was practical and helped her students understand how science and math play a role in life after school.
无毛视频淎 lot of them want to go into engineering. They see what careers in STEM are out there,无毛视频� she said, adding that meeting Range employees was a great opportunity.