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鈥檚 bridge. The sixth-grade team, comprised of Belle and Bridget Distelrath, Elijah Twele and Jacob Valente, won first place for best middle school bridge.
news@greenecountymessenger.com
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.
鈥淭his has been an opportunity for them to connect with people that are in the field,鈥� said Sarah D鈥橴rzo, IU1 coordinator for innovation and design, who helped plan the event. 鈥淭o be able to see that the engineering, science, math, the creativity 鈥� everything that goes into it is something that they鈥檙e learning right now that can be applied to a real-world situation. The students are like, 鈥榊es, I鈥檓 building a bridge, but this bridge could be used.'鈥�
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鈥檚 score.
鈥淭he work exceeded my expectations,鈥� said Christina Kramer, community relations specialist at Range, who planned the STEM challenge with D鈥橴rzo and Justin Welker, water operations manager at Range. 鈥淲ho knew popsicle sticks could hold up to 240 pounds?鈥�
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.
鈥淚 was hoping I could get a team of five,鈥� said math teacher Zach Hixson. 鈥淲e ended up with 20 kids wanting to participate.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 think right now, with the attention of the failure of the bridges, I think that what they鈥檙e doing is amazing compared to how this can be related to what鈥檚 actually happening,鈥� said Laurel Highlands technology education teacher Shaun Valente. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an eye-opener, being able to think about applying what they鈥檙e doing. That鈥檚 the cool thing about hands-on: we apply what we鈥檙e (teaching).鈥�
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.
鈥淚t was just me talking about the big ideas. I pretty much turned them loose to do their own research,鈥� Whitfield said. 鈥淚t was really nice to be able to give them the freedom. They were able to go 鈥� totally above and beyond what the goal for the project was.鈥�
One Chartiers-Houston bridge held 230 pounds, while the other supported 100 pounds 鈥� 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.
鈥淭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,鈥� 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.
鈥淥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,鈥� said Welker, adding that some of the students who presented may one day work for Range.
鈥淎 lot of these kids are way smarter than we were at this age,鈥� he laughed. 鈥淭he amount of weight the bridges could hold! We installed about 80 miles of temporary pipe last year. We use these bridges. It鈥檚 something that we do every day. To incorporate that engineering aspect into the STEM program 鈥� 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.
鈥淎 lot of them want to go into engineering. They see what careers in STEM are out there,鈥� she said, adding that meeting Range employees was a great opportunity.