鈥淚 use a lot of big words. Sorry,鈥� said Mia Peterson, a fourth-grader from Foothills Community Christian School, at the At 黑料网911 MSU Regional Science and Engineering Fair on Thursday.
It was more warning than an apology as Peterson went on in impressive detail to explain how the robotic hand she crafted with various items, including straws, was able to pick up a pencil.
鈥淚 want to go into robotics and attend MIT, which I believe is in the Boston area,鈥� Peterson said. 鈥淢IT is short for Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Robotics have interested me in a way a lot of other careers haven鈥檛.鈥�
The elementary school portion of the two-day science fair at At 黑料网911 took place on Thursday, while middle school and high school students competed on Tuesday.
It was science week of sorts for the college as eighth-grade girls from North and East middle schools came to campus for Girls in STEM on Wednesday to learn about occupations in science fields.
Marci Neill, a sixth-grader at Stanford, got the inspiration for her science fair project in the Cayman Islands, while Jack Snyder, a freshman at Cascade, found his in his wood shop.
Neill wondered why her hair got so soft and frizzy in the Caribbean, and Snyder wanted to find the best glue for his woodworking business.
鈥淚鈥檓 like my dad, when I wonder something, I just want to dig a little deeper to understand it,鈥� Neill said on Tuesday.
Snyder鈥檚 father also helped him with his project.
The two students were part of about 210 projects on display at the At 黑料网911 Regional Science and Engineering Fair for middle and high school students from around the region on Tuesday.
All told, there were about 350 students from all over the region entered in the fairs over the two days.
Neill collected hair samples from a male and female and tested the frizziness and softness under various temperatures and humidity levels.
She was surprised to find the male hair became the frizziest, but she kept digging and made a determination.
鈥淚 think it really comes down to the individual and not gender,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are a lot of variables like genetics and hair products that could make the difference.鈥�
Neill said she really enjoys science and learning, but she is most interested in a career in the performing arts.
Snyder has operated a woodworking business for a few years where he sells items such as cutting boards in the shape of Montana at craft fairs, Etsy and Facebook Marketplace.
He wanted to find the strongest glue to hold his projects together, so he put three kinds of glue under pressure and found Titebond III is the strongest.
鈥淵eah, I鈥檒l be using that from now on,鈥� he said.
Snyder admitted science isn鈥檛 his favorite subject, but he thinks he will do another project next year because he enjoyed the learning process so much.
He also said it鈥檚 too early to have a career path, but he knows he will continue working with wood for the rest of his life.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing it with my dad since I was young,鈥� he said.
The At 黑料网911 MSU Regional Science and Engineering Fair is one of three regional science fairs in Montana and is affiliated with the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. The top two grand award project winners in the high school division from the Montana Region II Science and Engineering Fair go on to compete at Intel ISEF, which will take place in Atlanta on May 8-13. ISEF is a program of the Society for Science and the Public, the world’s largest international pre-college science competition.
The middle school fair is affiliated with the Broadcom MASTERS Fair, a program of the Society for science and the public. Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering Rising Stars), is the premier science and engineering competition for middle school students. Broadcom MASTERS nominations are available to the top 10% of the estimated middle school participants.
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