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Schools

Over 200 Attend T.J.'s Inaugural STEM Night

Elementary school students participate in hands-on experiments and games.

More than 200 people including parents, teachers, and students participated in first STEM Night, a new approach to a science fair on Wednesday. 

The idea was created by Gabrielle Meyer, a science teacher at the James Street elementary school. In addition, over 20 teachers volunteered for creating this event.

"I saw a need to reinvent the science fair and to bring it into the 21st Century learning approach," Meyer said. "I wanted our STEM Night to be a reflection of our hands on science curriculum."

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Children in the Morris School District were able to participate in many hands on and informational stations that made learning fun. The science, technology, engineering, and math centers were all represented on Wedneday night.

In the science section of the event, students got to participate in a scavenger hunt, and see presentations from the Morristown High Chemistry Club, the Livingston Robotics Club, and the Garden State Robotics Club.

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Exit 5 Robotics, one of the eight Livingston Robotics Club teams, were at the fair and were able to teach students about competitions and the use of robots in their everyday lives. The Exit 5 team will be competing in a national competition in Florida on May 3. 

The BASF Chemical Company had their own station, where they gave a presentation and taught students how to create "goo."

Posted around the fair were many science experiments and reports for students to learn from. There were also models, live animals, and other displays.

The math section included board games and smart board presentations that included probability and fraction games. 

Jeopardy games and iPad scavenger hunts are just a few examples of the learning approaches that took place in the technology section. 

In the engineering part of the fair, third graders created boats that needed to float while holding pennies, fourth graders built roller coasters using insulation pipes and marbles, and fifth graders made windmills with orange juice cartons and other items for blades. 

Through these experiences, students were taught how to work as a team and demonstrate respect and communication to their peers, something they have been working on at T.J. through the Character Counts Program.

The large turnout proved the night to be a huge success, and students walked away with new skills and insight into many different subjects relating to science and technology.

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