High school and middle school students learned about the colorful side of chemistry, solved a potion puzzle to earn a prize and explored the difference between H2O and H2O2 at UWM on Friday, March 31.
The hands-on activities were part of a STEM Expo in advance of the April 1 Wisconsin Science Olympiad held at UWM.
More than 1,200 high school and middle school students took part in the competition, and approximately 40% of them arrived a day early to tour the campus, visit research labs, sit in on a lecture, observe demonstrations and conduct a few experiments themselves at the expo.
The Science Olympiad promotes STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects for students from kindergarten through high school. This year was the first time the state competition has been held at UWM since 2018, according to Anja Blecking, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. She was one the UWM liaisons for the event along with Christine Beimborn, STEM outreach manager in the College of Engineering & Applied Science. More than 100 volunteers from UWM helped out. The students were accompanied by teachers and parent coaches.
The Science Olympiad encourages students to compete in a wide variety of science-related events, from building bridges to testing out student-built aircraft and robots.
Some of the competitions use paper and pen in quizzes on scientific subjects such as virology. Nearly 100 school districts from all over Wisconsin take part in the state tournament. Winners go on to the national tournament, scheduled for May 19-20 at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
“This was really cool,” said Connor Jacobson, a senior at Beloit Turner High School, after completing all the formulas in the potion puzzle part of the expo and earning a Ghirardelli chocolate bar.
This was the first STEM Expo and Olympiad for science teacher Elizabeth Hell of Almond-Bancroft High School in Almond, Wisconsin. “It gives the students ideas about the different areas within science that might fit their interests.”
The expo and Olympiad have shown her some fun ways of getting students excited about science, she added. “I’ve gotten some ideas I’d like to take back to my classes.”
Marty Seeger drove up from Balsam Lake with his daughter, Morgan, a 6th grader in the Unity School District. Morgan was a bit younger than some of the others in her lab group but really likes science, so her father was willing to get up early and make the long drive to Milwaukee. “It gives her a chance to get a little taste of college life,” he said.
