Science

Pentucket’s Bagnall Elementary School Hosts 2019 STEM Week Activities

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Pentucket Regional School District
Superintendent Justin Bartholomew
22 Main Street
West Newbury, MA 01985

For Immediate Release

Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019

Contact: Kelsey Bode
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Pentucket’s Bagnall Elementary School Hosts 2019 STEM Week Activities

GROVELAND — Principal Emily Puteri is pleased to announce that Bagnall Elementary School students are participating in a variety of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workshops this week as part of a statewide initiative to promote learning in each field. 

Bagnall Elementary School is participating in Massachusetts’ second annual STEM Week this week, an effort started by the Baker-Polito Administration to support students’ interest in STEM education. 

“STEM Week is a wonderful opportunity to spark excitement and curiosity among our students about the incredible array of fascinating, challenging STEM fields out there,” Principal Puteri said. “Our students are excited about the opportunities they’ll have this week to learn about a range of topics, many of which have to do with sustainability and the environment.”

STEM Week activities at Bagnall Elementary School were organized by Brooke Welch, Pentucket Regional School District’s Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) coordinator. The week’s activities are being funded by a STEM Week grant from the Merrimack College Northeast STEM Network, a group that helps connect educators and supports schools as they organize their annual STEM Week activities. 

“Each activity we’ve planned for this week encourages our students to hypothesize about possible solutions, test their ideas, learn more about these topics, use their creativity and discuss possible solutions,” Welch said. “Students will also collaborate and will gain an understanding of how these topics — from the importance of reducing trash waste to removing microplastics from water — have a tremendous impact on the world they live in.”

Leading up to this week, kindergarten through second grade students at the school have been learning about food waste, composting, recycling and reducing their “foodprint.” Third through fifth grade students have been learning about novel energy solutions, unintended consequences and prototyping a way for the school to use a cleaner energy source. Sixth grade students have been studying the impact of microplastics on the environment, animals and the human body.

Over the course of this week, the school will host five workshops to support student learning and interest in various STEM topics. On Tuesday, students in kindergarten through second grade learned about trash and waste, upcycling and sustainability through an interactive “Children’s Museum” operated by educators in the small gymnasium at the school. 

On Wednesday, third and fourth grade students took part in two workshops. In one program, students learned about the impacts of an oil spill and acted as environmental engineers to test different methods for effectively cleaning up an oil spill. In the second workshop, students visited the school’s makerspace and brainstorm how to make their school more sustainable and environmentally friendly. 

Fifth and sixth grade students will also take part in two workshops on Thursday. In one workshop, students will learn about the amount of plastic that has been disposed of in the ocean, and will design and build a filter to remove pieces of plastic from an ocean model. They will also discuss possible solutions to reduce and remove plastic from the ocean. In the second workshop, students will gather in the school’s makerspace to create a procedure to remove plastic microbeads from a provided commercial personal care product, such as a facial cleanser or body wash. 

The school’s STEM Week events will culminate in a school-wide presentation on revision energy on Friday by Elizabeth Rose, an advocate and Groveland resident who builds ecobrick structures in Guatemala for school children to show students alternative ways to build houses and structures from Plastic bottles and bags, known as ecobricks.

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Easton Middle School to Host Massachusetts STEM Week Professional Development Training

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Easton Public Schools
Dr. Lisha Cabral, Superintendent
50 Oliver St.
North Easton, MA 02356

For Immediate Release

Friday, June 7, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

Easton Middle School to Host Massachusetts STEM Week Professional Development Training

EASTON — Superintendent Lisha Cabral is pleased to share that approximately 120 educators will attend a professional development Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) training at Easton Middle School this June.

On Monday, June 17, and Tuesday, June 18, at Easton Middle School, approximately 70 Easton educators and 50 others from nearby communities will attend an i2 Learning training in preparation for the second annual Massachusetts STEM week this October.

The first Massachusetts STEM Week was held in October 2018 in an effort by the Baker-Polito Administration to support middle school students’ interest in STEM education.

i2 Learning is an organization that works to offer students hands-on, immersive STEM learning opportunities by providing professional development, project materials and online support to schools, free of charge. The organization’s services are funded entirely by donations from corporations, local foundations and other organizations including Vertex, Mathworks, State Street, Lynch Foundation, Shah Family Foundation, Boston Foundation and the Massachusetts Life Science Center.

“We’re thrilled to be offering this professional development opportunity to educators from Easton and neighboring communities,” Superintendent Cabral said. “STEM week is a wonderful opportunity for schools to really submerge students in STEM topics and projects, and i2 Learning’s programming and assistance will really bring this October’s events to the next level.”

Educators at the June training will review the engineering design process and project-based learning principles. They will then take on the role of their students and participate in the activities their classes will be tasked with this fall.

“Our staff is looking forward to this opportunity, and the exciting STEM lessons our students will be engaging in this fall,” Superintendent Cabral said. “Thank you to i2 Learning for providing us with the resources and support to give our students a STEM week experience that will fully submerge them in these topics.”

This summer, i2Learning will offer 12-15 workshops and train upwards of 700 Massachusetts educators for this year’s STEM week.

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King Philip Students Earn Liberal Arts and STEM Graduation Distinctions

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King Philip Regional School District
Paul Zinni, Superintendent
18 King Street
Norfolk, MA 02056

For Immediate Release

Friday, May 17, 2019

Media Contact: Benjamin Paulin
Phone: 781-428-3299
Email: [email protected]

King Philip Students Earn Liberal Arts and STEM Graduation Distinctions

WRENTHAM — Superintendent Paul Zinni is pleased to announce that 11 seniors at King Philip Regional High School have earned Graduation Distinctions in liberal arts and in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

King Philip High School’s two Graduation Distinction programs were launched in 2016 in an effort to provide students the opportunity to work on long-term projects of their choosing and conduct research in either the liberal arts or in STEM. The projects are required to have a community service component, and students in the program must also present their work and findings to teachers and administrators for review.

Achievement of each distinction will be noted on the students’ school transcripts, and a liberal arts or STEM Graduation Distinctions program description will be included in the school profile that is sent to colleges.

Students that earned the liberal arts distinction completed a specific program of classes throughout their high school careers including four years of English, two years of U.S. history, world history, and five credits in a liberal arts elective such as world language or art.

To earn the STEM distinction, students were required to take four years of science and mathematics classes, as well as five additional elective credits in science.

Both distinctions required students to develop a project under the guidance of an adviser that reflected the “real world” applications available through the liberal arts or STEM. Students worked on their projects for a year or more.

On Friday, May 10, students presented their projects to a faculty panel.

“These 11 students have worked incredibly hard not only in the classroom, but outside of school to apply these concepts in real life contexts,” Superintendent Zinni said. “They have fully earned these distinctions, and have completed a comprehensive course of study over their high school careers in these fields.”

Students that earned the liberal arts distinction include Jessie Kornfeld, of Norfolk; Jimmy Dumont, of Plainville; Ethan Ball, of Norfolk; and Max Armour, of Norfolk.

Kornfeld used graphic design experience she had gained from an internship to generate publicity for an art department fundraiser for her project. Dumont wrote an article that was published in the town pages of a local newspaper about the efficacy of service dogs. Ball developed a computer game and tested it on gamers. Armour gave out brochures about opioid addiction and awareness at a Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) walk.

Students that earned the STEM distinction include Ally Wood, of Norfolk; Caroline Robertson, of Norfolk; George ElMassih, of Wrentham; Justin Willson, of Wrentham; Olivia Atkins, of Norfolk; Maria Fabiano, of Wrentham; and Nikita Murli, of Plainville.

Wood gave a presentation at the Norfolk Grange about colony collapse disorder in bees. Robertson gave a lesson to King Philip health classes about cell phone addiction. ElMassih taught a computer coding class to middle school students. Willson conducted an experiment to test the efficacy of engineered materials on reducing zebra mussel attachment to pipes, and his research is also going to be published in the Journal of Emerging Investigators. Atkins presented research from her Rhode Island summer fellowship. Fabiano worked to increase awareness about physical therapy. Murli gave a lesson to King Philip health classes about the overuse of antibiotic medicines.

“Congratulations to each of these students for earning these remarkable distinctions and creating such thoughtful, well-researched projects,” said King Philip High School Principal Lisa Mobley. “These distinctions encourage students to take their studies one step further by making a real-life impact, and each of them found a way to share their findings in a meaningful way.”

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Littleton Middle School Students Earn First, Second, Third Place Awards at State Science and Engineering Fair

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Littleton Public Schools
Dr. Kelly R. Clenchy, Superintendent
33 Shattuck Street,
Littleton, MA 01460

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Media Contact: Jordan Mayblum
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Littleton Middle School Students Earn First, Second, Third Place Awards at State Science and Engineering Fair

LITTLETON — Superintendent Kelly Clenchy is pleased to announce that several Littleton Middle School students earned first, second and third place awards at the Massachusetts Middle School State Science and Engineering Fair this weekend. 

The fair was held at Worcester Tech High School on Saturday, May 11. Six Littleton Middle School students competed in the fair with five science and engineering projects. 

Madeline Shea, an eighth grade student, received a first place award at the fair for her engineering project. Shea designed a device to measure the amounts of ozone and particulate pollutants in the air, and she also learned how to code and created three prototype devices for her project.

Brandon LaVoie, an eighth grade student, was awarded a second place award at the fair with his hovercraft project. LaVoie built a hovercraft and tested the effect of ground temperature on the lift and speed of the machine.

For her project on the effect of UV light in the degradation of watercolor pigments, eighth grade student Katherine McDonagh won a second place award. She built a UV light chamber for her project to expose selections of watercolor pigment to UV light. She then used Photoshop to measure red-green-blue color values in pigments that both had been exposed to the light and had not.

Aparna Deokar, an eighth grade student, placed third at the fair for a civil engineering project. Deokar tested her hypothesis to see if bioconcrete could be made with a fungal material instead of bacteria, which is added to fill any cracks that may form in the concrete. She made a control concrete block, a block with fungal mycellium and a block with non-activated mycellium. Deokar then used a compression machine to create cracks in the concrete blocks and measured the sizes of the cracks over time. 

“The depth of knowledge and understanding of science and engineering concepts that these students exhibited with these projects is remarkable,” said Valerie Finnerty, an eighth grade science teacher at Littleton Middle School. “Each one of them found rich topics, researched extensively and conducted their work with close attention to detail. It is so exciting to see them recognized for their hard work.”

Shea, LaVoie, McDonagh and Deokar are eligible due to their success at state and regional science and engineering fairs to enter the Broadcom Masters program, a national competition for students who earn top scores in regional and state science and engineering fairs.

“It is thrilling to see our students using their big-picture understanding of science and engineering to conduct such high-level, challenging research,” Superintendent Clenchy said. “Congratulations to each of these students. Your hard work and knowledge of these topics is exceptional.”

Earlier this month on Friday, May 3, seventh grade students Hannah Jonsson and Julianna Magin also placed third at a regional Middle School Science and Engineering fair in Lowell with their project, titled “OJ All the Way.” Jonsson and Magin compared the amount of vitamin C in frozen, fresh and concentrated orange juice.

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