Third-graders flood UMO campus during annual STEM event

On Friday, kids lined up behind a super-sized slingshot on the University of Mount Olive campus to take turns launching ‘Angry Birds’ toward a block of targets several yards away. It was one of many activities set up as part of the university’s sixth annual STEM on the Green event.

“The goal is to expose these third-graders to some STEM activities they can do hands-on,” said math professor Brenda Cates, who volunteered her time to help make the day a success. The Angry Birds activity was used to introduce kids to the concept of using the stored elastic energy in the slingshot’s rubber bands to shoot a projectile at high speed — and while Cates admits that the kids probably didn’t understand the intricacies of the concept, this was a fun way to at least have them start thinking about it.

Nine hundred third-graders from across Wayne and Duplin counties were invited to take part in STEM on the Green, which ran from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., and included over 35 different educational stations or booths related to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts in the third-grade curriculum. UMO faculty and students, along with local businesses and organizations, worked together to pull off the event.

Dr. Sara Lahman, UMO associate professor of biology, pitched the idea of STEM on the Green, after having taken her child to a similar event at Bowling Green State University when she was a PhD student there in 2016. The response to her suggestion overwhelmed her.

“It’s more than I could have expected,” she said. “Every year I’m blown away by the participation from [UMO] students and faculty. Everybody helps and everybody knows how to make the experience better. It shows how much the university cares about engaging with the community.

“Nobody ever tells me no,” she added. “Everybody on campus steps up.”

Lahman noted that STEM disciplines are sometimes perceived as difficult or boring, but this annual event helps students see how these concepts really do have a connection to everyday life.

Included among the many activities the kids participated in were: holding and examining replicas of human bones and responding to “bones trivia” questions; blowing up balloons as a way to learn about the respiratory system and breathing; completing simple electrical circuits; controlling a robotic arm to drop a tennis ball in a small container; solving a numerical riddle; sitting in the cab of a Case 75C Farmall electric tractor; and building small catapults to launch marshmallows across a table (then getting to watch a large catapult in action).

In learning about genetic traits, students received different colors of beads — based on traits like eye color, hair texture, and the presence or absence of dimples or freckles — to make gene bracelets.

An activity that could be viewed as extremely messy or extremely fun — depending on whether you’re an adult or a nine-year-old — had students immersing their hands in a kiddie pool filled with oobleck, a suspension of cornstarch and water. Since oobleck exhibits properties of both liquids and solids, it’s a good substance to use to teach kids about the different states of matter.

One station was committed to health-related activities. Tables were filled with all sorts of foods — cereals, crackers, and fruit snacks, for example — and kids were asked to look at the nutrition labels and separate the healthy foods from the unhealthy ones. Afterwards, to the sounds of upbeat music emanating from a sound system, UMO students led the elementary-school students in several minutes of exercising, including running, jumping and doing squats.

In addition to hands-on experiences, students also got to hear professionals in various fields — sometimes not thought of as STEM-related — demonstrate or talk about aspects of their jobs. Firefighters from the Mt. Olive Fire Department were on-hand, as was Officer Carpenter, with the Jacksonville Police Department, and his German shepherd K9, Teo. Mount Olive native and WNCT9-TV meteorologist Jerry Jackson helped students understand how tornadoes form; and Melissa Kilpatrick, with the Mt. Olive Pickle Co., explained how the company produces pickles and peppers. “It’s a whole lot of fun to get to meet the kids and let them know how long we’ve been here,” Kilpatrick said. “It blows their mind that [the pickle company] has been here since 1926.”

A group of UMO psychology majors set up several demonstrations to help the younger students understand the connection between muscle movement and what’s happening in the brain. Senior Adrienne Crawford, who has been volunteering with STEM on the Green for three years, noted the value of the experience, saying, “We’re learning as they’re learning.” And Emma Mooney offered, “It makes college less daunting for the kids.”

Sophomore Rashon Sellers addressed the fact that some children deal with “ACEs,” or adverse childhood experiences, and this event helps to counter that by giving them a chance to “sow seeds of positive experiences at a young age.”

STEM on the Green is an opportunity that is much-appreciated by the third-grade teachers. Dawn Clark, of Eastern Wayne Elementary, said, “It’s a good experience getting [the students] out of the classroom. It’s something they’ve never done before. It’s hands-on and [it gives them a chance] to talk and verbalize.”

Judging by this year’s event, next year’s third-graders have a lot to look forward to.