Sandburg Elementary Hosts STEAM Fair

STEAM is the word…have you heard?

Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics—the content areas making up the STEAM acronym—were front and center in the form of engaging activities and experiments at Sandburg Elementary School’s first STEAM Fair held during the school day on October 21. (The acronym STEM also is used, without the A for arts.) Seven Sandburg educators spent many hours over the past several months planning the event. Click here for pictures of the event.

The goal of the fair was to build student confidence and generate interest and enthusiasm for the sciences. Each grade level, kindergarten through fifth grade, attended six 45-minute sessions appropriate for their age/attention span. Wheaton Warrenville CUSD 200 recently adopted the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which place an emphasis on engineering and scientific inquiry. The events of the day supported those standards.

A popular session featured Jerry Zimmerman, a physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He performed cryogenic demonstrations under the name “Mr. Freeze.” Zimmerman delighted the audience with his fast-paced, amusing presentation using household items such as bubbles, bottles, balloons, flowers, plastic bags and marshmallows, with the occasional explosion!

Another well-received presentation was Star Lab, a large, inflatable exhibit that students entered. An educator narrated information about the constellations that were projected onto the ceiling of the lab.

Other offerings found students interacting with a pharmacist, physicists, District 200 technology specialists, Sandburg LLC Director Kristin Gartke, a web designer, an architect and representatives from the DuPage Children’s Museum, College of DuPage, AT&T and Junior Achievement. Students experimented with magnets, created robots, observed chemical reactions, worked on coding, made hypotheses, used technology, played math games, filmed in front of a green screen, designed new products, learned about a solar oven and discovered the differences between cell and smart phones.

STEAM Fair chairman Becky Hanselman, Sandburg Math Specialist, reported that the day was successful. “There were a few glitches, but overall, we accomplished what we intended. I appreciated all the work of the educators on the committee and PTA co-presidents Kim McNamara and Trish Boone. We couldn’t have done it without the presenters, most of whom were volunteers. We definitely want to hold another STEAM Fair in the future.” Other committee members included educators Erin Smith, Susan Benoit, Gail Kramer, Becky Filisko, Denise Hall and Ben Huggins.

Ms. Hanselman said the best part of the day was when she overheard a child saying excitedly to a friend, “I want to do science every day!” She added, “That’s exactly what we were going for!