St. James Middle School had a Science and Engineering Festival on Friday. Instead of the traditional science fair projects, students in fifth through seventh grades created interactive, fun, science-related projects and demonstrated them for the younger students.
There were about 12 project in all, including a geodesic dome planetarium where students showed a film about space exploration, a marble run and an augmented-reality sandbox.
"This is our reinvention of a science fair," said Nicole Ayers, math and science teacher at St. James. "I love science and I love science fairs, but we wanted this to be a two-way interactive event."
Students were challenged to create interactive exhibits but without many rules.
"They had very few structures or parameters. It needed to have something to do with science and be interactive," Ayers said. "They blew me away with what they came up with. We have anatomy and physiology art and a crime scene with a mystery they need to solve."
Ayers wanted students to leave the projects with a few key lessons learned.
"I just want them to love learning, to stay curious and to be excited to figure things out," she said.
Alex Orr is a sixth-grade student who came up with the idea for the augmented-reality sandbox. The project involved coding and more key computer skills.
"It was really hard and it's frustrating, but I'm really happy we finished it," he said.
Ayers hopes the festival becomes an annual event.
"It was a little bit of a risk venturing away from the traditional science fair, but I feel it was well received," Ayers said.