Several Merced City School District students received invaluable support with their science fair projects during the district’s first “Ask a Scientist or Engineer” night on Tuesday, October 18. It was held at the new MCSD STEAM Center, which was designed to provide integrated hands-on learning in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics.
The event began with an overview of the science fair process and introductions by the local experts. Many of them work or study at UC Merced, but their backgrounds and focus areas are very diverse, from soil ecology to psychology to applied mathematics and genomics. The children then had a chance to sit with the experts and ask questions about topics such as developing a hypothesis, collecting data, and presenting conclusions.
The district’s Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Staff Development, Dr. Elaine Keeley, said, “It was exciting to see our students connecting with experts from right here in our community. These interactions provide our children with role models in STEAM fields as well as inspiration for their science fair projects.”
The students will have a chance to showcase their work at school site science fairs, which lead up to the district fair on January 19. The top 20 projects will move on to the Merced County Office of Education STEM Fair on March 8. The winners of that event will have a chance to compete at the California State Science Fair in Los Angeles on April 23-24. Last year, MCSD students swept the top three spots at the county fair and proudly represented Merced at the state contest.
Two more “Ask a Scientist or Engineer” nights will be held this year. They are scheduled for November 7 and December 7 at 5 p.m. at the STEAM Center, which is located at 2900 Green Street. Experts who are interested in participating or serving as judges for the MCSD science fair can contact Public Information Officer Sara Sandrik at: ssandrikgoins@mcsd.k12.ca.us.
