Students from a half-dozen Panhandle schools, including Chadron Middle School, showed off their science education Tuesday as they competed in the Panhandle Regional Science Fair at WNCC in the Harms Center.
The Science Fair was put on by the Nebraska Junior Academy of Sciences, an affiliate of the Nebraska Academy of Science, with the goals of stimulating science education and encouraging young people to become involved in science.
ESU 13 professional learning coordinator Dave Griess says the regional science fair is one of the steps for students to qualify for the state science fair in April
. Students ranging in age from 6th-to-12th grade competed in either the junior or senior division with a maximum of 6 projects in each division advancing on to the state science fair.
Griess says the number of competitors was down slightly from last year, but that this year’s projects were of noticeably high quality and demonstrated at strong understanding of their subject matter.
Griess says the projects showed the students were really addressing the science and engineering practices being taught in their classes, adding that “the level of polish and understanding shown reflects well on both the students and their teachers.”
Leyton High School science teacher Jesse Henderson thinks completing and explaining a project deepens understanding of those concepts is also a vital part of science education today.
Both Henderson and Griess and Henderson say a science fair hones knowledge and skills in more than one subject area such as public speaking, critical thinking, and answering spontaneous questions they might not have prepared for.
In addition to the competition, the science fair participants got to enjoy a variety of STEM – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – activities provided by the 21st Century Equipment Mobile Learning Lab.
In addition to Chadron Middle Schools, competitors came from Alliance High School, Leyton High School, Bayard Junior High, Garden County Junior/Senior High, and the Valley Homeschool Association.