Clarkstown North’s Science Fair: Empowering Young Minds in STEM
By Gianna Maltbie, Around the Horn Editor (2024)
Image Courtesy of George Mampillil (Senior) featuring Aidan Dobrosielski, Mark Altman, and Gavin Cazes (Juniors)
On April 11, young minds and budding scientists explored the activities of Clarkstown North’s annual science fair, led by Clarkstown North’s students. Elementary school students and their parents were welcomed into the fair, participating in many different labs and hands-on activities. From creating lava lamps to making delicious ice cream, all who attended had a blast, igniting interest in science in future and current high school students. Not only did students have fun, but they also learned important principles like density and fossilization and participated in robotics, derby car racing, and slime-making.
Clarkstown North students had so much fun creating a vibrant world of discovery for younger students. Getting to make oobleck, lava lamps, slime, and ice cream became a world of fun for students and parents alike. Here are what students had to say following the science fair.
Image courtesy of Emilie Salcedo-Lugo (Junior)
Ram’s Horn: What was your activity and your favorite part of the science fair?
Mark Altman: My project was based on Rube Goldberg machines, where kids try to build a contraption through which a ball travels to a final destination through lots of trial and error. My favorite part was the determination the kids had to succeed. In fact, one of the kids stayed at our station for the entire event, constantly trying different things and working hard to get his build to work.
Image Courtesy of George Mampillil (Senior) featuring Kathryn Murano, Angela Xu, and Ruby Friedman (Juniors)
Ram’s Horn: What did you most enjoy about the science fair?
Emilie Salcedo-Lugo: I liked the science fair because it was a way for the high school students to be able to interact with the younger students from the elementary schools. Seeing the smiles on their faces brought me joy when the experiment came to life along with their enthusiasm in learning more about the science behind it.
Image courtesy of George Mampillil (Senior) featuring Fiona Brennan (Junior)
Ram’s Horn: What did you like the most about the science fair?
Abigail Koshy: I mean for me, I worked with my friends and we had the Slime Station, so the most fun thing for me was making slime and talking to the kids.
Ram’s Horn: What was running an activity like?
Emily Savedoff: I really liked it because I saw that my project made a lot of kids happy. Everyone was really excited to do it. Our project was making our own ice cream. We used at-home ingredients and after a lot of steps, we eventually made vanilla ice cream.
Gianna: What did you love about the fair and your project?
Fiona Brennan: I loved presenting and creating an experiment for the science fair because it allowed me to share and collaborate my scientific knowledge with my peers and members of the community. I especially liked working with the younger students because I saw how excited they were to learn about science and see some fundamental concepts come to life while experimenting at the different presentations.
Image courtesy of George Mampillil (Senior) featuring Brandon Gelb and Emily Savedoff (Juniors)
Image courtesy of George Mampillil (Senior) featuring Abigail Koshy (Junior)
Image courtesy of George Mampillil (Senior) featuring Isabella Rivera and Jordan Mason (Juniors)
Truly, students had a blast facilitating a fun and interactive environment for kids to explore STEM. We are so lucky to have been able to hold this event and it would not have been possible without the endless work of the Science Department and students. Perhaps in a couple years, these elementary school students will lead the activities for future generations.