Webutuck STEAM fair to highlight students’ science explorations

AMENIA —  Community members who want to see how students from kindergarten to 12th grade see the world around them can drop by the STEAM fair next Saturday morning, Feb. 25.  The event, to be held at the Eugene Brooks Intermediate School at 194 Haight Road, will showcase about 35 projects by over 50 students.

For those unfamiliar with the term, “STEAM” is a more recent adjustment to the acronym STEM, as in STEM education: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  The addition of “art” — the arts or design thinking — forms the new acronym STEAM. The late-’90s push to expand STEM education, in what former President Barack Obama called “our Sputnik moment,” was eventually seen as incomplete and lacking sufficient student engagement; more creativity was needed.  In Webutuck’s seventh year of fairs, art teacher Craig Wickwire is one of the several volunteer judges.

There’s a wide range of topics to be presented this year, such as fossil formation, engineering with robots, investigations into environmental issues, and even projects about students’ pets. “I always learn something new from our students’ investigations,” said science teacher Danielle Fridstrom, one of the main organizers of the event.

Fridstrom continued, saying: “Participation is strongly encouraged but completely voluntary. Most science teachers do offer extra credit for students who participate. We are always looking to encourage students to put those science skills they are learning in class into practice to investigate topics they are most interested in.

“Most students who are eligible [fifth grade or up] elect to have their projects judged. Any winning projects from individuals are eligible to compete at the Dutchess County Science Fair on March 25,” Fridstrom noted, adding that unfortunately, group projects are not eligible to compete at the county level.

An interesting addition to the fair is the inclusion of some high-schoolers in a group of teacher/volunteer “listeners,” who talk with participants about their projects, thus giving them important practice for future STEAM or science fairs. As further encouragement, some of the youngest science students vie for special awards like “Best Visual Communication.”

Community members can view the fair, and also see who wins the coveted “MacGyver Award,”  on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the EBIS cafeteria.

For more information as well as photos and videos of previous years’ winners, see the district’s STEAM page:

https://sites.google.com/webutuck.org/2021-webutuck-steam-fair/home?auth...

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