Mount St. Mary’s University hosted three STEM Power Days in February, March, and April where area K-6 students were invited to explore different STEM themes and projects at the School of Science, Mathematics, and Technology.
The STEM Power Days were organized and led by Assistant Professor of Math and Computer Science Matthew Gerhart, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair of Math and Computer Science Jonelle Hook, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Math and Computer Science Ruth Lamprecht, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Biology Rachel Hartnett, Ph.D. Additional STEM faculty supported each event and taught individuals and groups of students.
As part of Hook, Lamprecht and Hartnett’s Clare Boothe Luce grant award for scholarships, the university’s freed-up funds were allocated to three categories: training and mentorship for STEM faculty, changes to the curriculum of MATH 211 and CHEM 100, and a STEM outreach program for elementary school students—the STEM Power Days.
On February 14, dozens of K-6 grade students checked in for their respective station assignments and were outfitted with the day’s personal protective equipment of lab coats, goggles, and gloves. The event was organized by chemistry and math major Tierney McCarroll, C’26, who planned the experiments.
“After attending a conference and learning about initiatives at other institutions, I felt inspired to create something of my own. I approached Dr. Gerhart with the idea, and it came together even better than I imagined!” she said.
Annika, a five-year-old girl who likes to read came “to do fun stuff.” She wants to be a mom and a firefighter. Annika is having a lot of fun using a spatula to mix corn starch with water to make Oobleck—which can act as both a solid and a liquid. After adding food coloring, Annika squeezes it through her dish gloves, so it’s acting like a solid. She lets it drip back into the bowl, so it’s acting like a liquid.
Assistant Professor of Biology, William T. Mills IV, Ph.D., explains that Oobleck is made of tiny pieces mixed with water. When you push on it, the pieces stick together. When you stop, they slide past each other. Scientists call this a non-Newtonian fluid.
At the elephant toothpaste station, Lucia, a four-year-old girl dumped yeast into warm water. Lucia would like to be a dentist. She slowly added dish soap and food coloring to create a chemical reaction.
Assistant Professor of Math and Computer Science Matthew Gerhart, Ph.D., explained that a chemical reaction happens when substances mix and make something new. In this reaction, oxygen gas was made. The oxygen got trapped in the soap bubbles, which made the foam grow and grow. Lucia could feel the heat. Gerhart taught that some chemical reactions give off heat and that energy was being released.
Shirley, who would turn 10 years old in 14 days, said her favorite subject is math, and she loves fractions. While she’s not sure what kind of job she will want in the future, she is excited to grow up. For now, though, she’s at the pH testing station, using a dropper to add cabbage juice to each test tube. She watched the colors change and looked at her handout to rate the pH accordingly.
At ten minutes until 2 p.m., Chico arrived with his mom and handed Dr. Lemprecht a tiny, felted blueberry pie he had made in anticipation of the Pi Day event, which began promptly on March 14 at exactly 1:59 p.m.
At nine years old, Chico was seated at the green station where Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Jon McCurdy, Ph.D., was showing him how to use the scissors and string to compute pi. “I like trying to find the pie in the circle,” he said. “I read a lot about engineers and am now reading about the father of microbiology Louis Pasteur and am also learning to code in Unity.” Chico would like to be an engineer when he grows up. “I like making anything new—making things come alive.”
Chico’s dad is a chef, and, at a nearby station, Jada Alston, C’29, has volunteered to help students learn fractions using cookies as delicious incentives and visual aids. The early childhood education major showed a student what four eighths looks like by first using magnet manipulatives and then asking her to divide her cookie using a safe pizza wheel.
Back at the green station, Alana, who would like to be a math teacher, is crunching numbers on her calculator. Her press-on fingernails were proving a hindrance. Thankfully, a volunteer showed her how to turn her pencil upside down and use its eraser to press down the calculator’s buttons and continue computations. She’s certain that in the future her nails will not get in her way!
Finally, Maci, a nine-year-old girl, was at Assistant Professor of Science and Monsignor Tinder Endowed Professor Sarah Krueger’s blue station. Maci drew a dog’s head on a unicorn’s body using a compass. “I want to be a vet and help animals. I have 26 chickens, three dogs, a turtle, and two bunnies at home.”
Another girl, Josey, would like to become a nurse and help people. “Bones are cool. They have life in them. I’m especially interested in the nervous system. But I also like drawing and art,” she says, showcasing the sleeve and back of her sweatshirt, on which she has hand-embroidered characters from the show Battle for Dream Island.
At the end of the event, students lined up along the whiteboard where many decimal places of pi were calculated. Students and their families were each given their choice of preferred pies to enjoy.
The final STEM Power Day of the academic year explored life in a pond—where students learned about environmental and biological sciences.
At the water testing station, students dipped paper testing strips of iron, copper, chloride and nitrite/nitrate into both pond water and tap water. By comparing the various shades of pink, blue, olive green, grey, brown and purple, the students could accurately determine the correct parts per million of each mineral. Iron, for example, was likely higher in pond water than tap water, because of runoff and lack of filtration.
T.J. Femi-Falodum, C’27, a biology major with data science and chemistry minors volunteered to help students observe slides and compare specimens under the microscope. “There are things going on that they can see,” she said. At one point she related the life in water and plankton to SpongeBob so the student could better understand.
Assistant Professor in the Department of Science, Geraldine Vilmen, Ph.D., first taught students how to close one eye when looking in the eyepiece. Dr. Hartnett showed them how to rotate the objective lenses and use the stage clips to hold the slides.
Students observed and drew the colors and shapes of planaria (flat worm), hydra (water flea/daphnia), volvox (green algae, the favorite), and cyclops (copepod) which were described as looking like shrimp.
Meanwhile, another group of students enjoyed a beautiful, sunny day outside playing a predator/prey game of tag. Some students were predators and some students were prey. All had to find food before they starved or were eaten. Adjunct Faculty in the Science Department Russ Kreugger, Ph.D., taught the students that predator-prey relationships are dynamic, cyclical systems where those populations fluctuate in response to each other.
Jon Paul Marschall, C’28, a biology major with a minor in Italian, Eyiakimeh Enaumeh, C’27, a biochemistry major, and Ines Ventura, C’27 a biology major with a chemistry minor, related the games experience to demonstrate essential ecological balances, survival adaptations, resource competition, and how habitat changes affect ecosystem stability.
Enaumeh, who has had experience working with children at her church, plans to attend medical school after graduation. Femi-Falodum, Marschall, Enaumeh, and Ventura are all members of the Mount’s active student chapter of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The chapter provides opportunities for undergraduate research, networking, and scientific outreach.