Molin School encourages careers in STEM
Oct. 20—NEWBURYPORT — Fourth- and fifth-graders at Edward G. Molin Upper Elementary School have the opportunity to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and math this week.
STEM teacher Kristen Daigle organized the school's STEM Week to help students learn more about opportunities in these fields. She used resources provided by the Museum of Science in Boston, including an interactive quiz to determine what type of engineer a student might want to become.
This is the first time the elementary school has participated in STEM Week activities, but this is the fourth year they have been offered statewide.
Despite making up an increasing portion of the workforce, women, people of color, first-generation students, low-income individuals, English language learners and people with disabilities have remained underrepresented in STEM industries, according to the state STEM Week website.
The theme of the statewide STEM Week is "See Yourself in STEM," and the goal is to provide these students, especially people of color, with the mentorship they need to pursue these careers.
STEM workers represent 17% of the total workforce in the state — over 600,000 workers out of 3.6 million, according to the STEM Week website.
That is about one-third higher than the U.S. average of about 13%, according to the state data.
All fourth- and fifth-graders at Molin Upper Elementary School will have the chance to stop by Daigle's STEM lab for 45 minutes this week to participate in a variety of activities.
One of the activities, which is in line with the career of an agricultural engineer, has students create a bug trap. On Wednesday, students used cardboard, screens and other materials to create something to deal with mosquitos and fruit flies in their homes.
Another activity has students select from a list of tools to see what they would add to a microorganism to clean up an oil spill. This list includes items such as solar power, an oil sensor and an oil receptor.
After completing that activity, students design a superhero to save a person from falling from a building. To do this, students can choose to include details such as long hair, a magic wand, an ice crystal, spider webs and a cape.
By making these choices, Daigle asks students to consider which is better to solve a problem — to work with a microorganism or to be a superhero. In doing this, she shows how these career paths could allow students to become real-life, problem-solving superheroes.
Other activities include crafting musical instruments like an acoustic engineer would, making paper helicopters to think like an aerospace engineer, and using animation to simulate schools of fish like a Pixar animator might do.
The statewide STEM Week is organized by the Executive Office of Education and the STEM Advisory Council in partnership with the state's nine regional STEM networks. To learn more, visit www.massstemweek.org.
Staff reporter Heather Alterisio can be reached via email at halterisio@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3149. Follow her on Twitter @HeathAlt.
Staff reporter Heather Alterisio can be reached via email at halterisio@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3149. Follow her on Twitter @HeathAlt.
