STEM Takes Center Stage in the Jetnasium

Students, Teachers, and Parent Judges Put Experiments Under the Microscope

Isabella+and+Jessica+proudly+present+their+STEM+project+about+plant+science.+Photo+by+Jackson+Chiang.

Isabella and Jessica proudly present their STEM project about plant science. Photo by Jackson Chiang.

Andrew Shim, Elizabeth Ryu, and Catherine Park
November 16, 2022

Middle and High Schoolers showcased experiments at the STEM Fair on November 4th. Young mathematicians and scientists were given the opportunity to display the projects they worked on for the last two months. This year, participation was mandatory for sixth and seventh graders and students in the high school Problem Solving class. 

Students selected their topics from diverse categories in the fields of science and math, including psychology, engineering, biology, chemistry, and mathematical theorems. They then recorded the procedures of their experiments and introduced the knowledge they acquired through the process.

Kevin from 12th grade explained, “My project was about the Egyptian method of problem solving, and I think the fair was a great experience for me as we could find our own problems outside of the school curriculum and explore them ourselves to find the solution.”

Lewis in grade 10 won in the engineering category. “My project was about making my own liquid lens, which is an efficient alternative to conventional lenses, and I decided to this because I am personally interested in cameras and this gave me an opportunity to go deeper into my interests using science,” Lewis said. The STEM fair provided the opportunity for students to get out of the textbook and dive deeper into their off-campus hobbies.

Phillip in grade 6 focused on psychology. “Before I started this project I knew that music could affect people and change someone’s actions or the way they think so I was curious if other factors can do the same thing to people’s mind so I used colors for this experiment.” He linked colors to behavior and decision-making.
Kevin and Alex proudly showcase their project on Egyptian problem solving. Photo provided by Jackson Chiang.

Soon after the event, the winners of each category were announced, and the first and second place projects of each discipline were selected to move on to the SKAC STEM Fair, which will take place online on the 22nd of November.

The 2022 event holds greater significance compared to previous years. Mr. Cameron explained, “The Stem Fair this year is the biggest STEM Fair we ever had, where we had over 90 projects submitted, and many of the high schoolers are working in pairs, so we can say that we have over 100 participants this year.” 

Other than the extraordinary numbers of participants for this year, he also said, “Parent judges are also coming back to help us judge for this year, where they couldn’t come for the previous years because of COVID, and we are happy that these parents volunteered to help us out this year.” 

Jason and Jimin answer questions from parent judges. Photo provided by Aiden Chae.

Regarding the quality of the submitted works, he claimed, “The projects were all amazing overall along with the presentation that they delivered, and I think all students have worked very hard for their projects this year, and I was very impressed.”

The science department was delighted with the work and the dedication the students put in. With this successful event behind them, the teachers hope to bring good results for the SKAC STEM Fair and continue the trend for the event next year.