Riverview Intermediate Unit 6 hosted the STEM Design Challenge for fourth- and fifth-grade students.
Seventy-five students competed in teams of four from Brookville, Cranberry, Franklin, Keystone, North Clarion, Punxsutawney and Redbank Valley school districts and St. Patrick School.
The challenge is sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific and involves keeping a journal, developing a blueprint, using K’nex pieces to build the project, and then presenting to judges.
This year’s challenge involved using K’nex pieces (interlocking plastic rods and connectors) to design an environmentally friendly machine that utilized motors to move objects six inches.
During the competition, each team had two hours to build their project from their blueprints. No pieces could be taken to the competition already joined. Each team also shared a two-minute presentation to explain how their project met the requirements of the challenge.
After the students completed their competition task, they participated in design-thinking makerspace stations, including marble runs with Q-BA-MAZE, designing weight-bearing and tallest possible structures out of clothespins, clips, and craft sticks, and coding with Osmo. They also had an opportunity to participate in a show and tell of their projects with their peers.
A team from Brookville earned the top spot with its “ACLA Craniums.” The team will advance to the state competition.
Second place went to a Cranberry team with “The Rubbish Ride.” The students included Kaden Goreczny, Conner Zerbe, Laynee McTiernan and Ella Fisher.
Franklin’s “Carl the Cranky Crane” team earned third place and the Challenge Success award. The team included Ben Krellner, Alex Johnston, Jasmine Stewart and Alexis Snyder.
“The Plebs” from North Clarion earned a design award and “The Big D,” a Cranberry project, earned a teamwork award.
The North Clarion team included Kelton Stitt, Julian Bellotti, Kaden Baumcratz and Thomas Phillips.
The Cranberry team included Emmy Emanuele, Zach Babis and Chelsey Wright.