Pace High School hosted its third annual Spartan STEM Boot Camp for students from fifth through eighth grade on May 6. Around 50 students from middle schools across South Florida enjoyed and learned with a day of activities related to science, technology, engineering, and math. Teachers from Pace’s Signature STEM Academy led sessions in Robotics/Coding, Engineering, Chemistry, and Biology.
In the Robotics/Coding sessions led by Hedda Falcon, lead teacher for the STEM Academy Emerging Computer Technologies Program, students used an iPad app to program robots to drive and turn on paths on the floor. Each of the group’s coding and logic were displayed on the TVs within the school’s Innovation Center so that students could provide input and advice on how to program their robots.
Luis Mayo, lead teacher for the STEM Academy Advanced Biomedical Sciences Program, and Pace science teacher Kevin Alegret taught campers in the Biology sessions about genetics and working with alleles by experimenting with and analyzing beans.
For the Chemistry sessions, campers mixed chemicals with beakers to see how antacids counteracted with acids, under the tutelage of Pace science teachers Dr. Enrique Dominguez and Scott Giberson.
Jose Ramos and Laura Lima, lead teachers for the STEM Academy Engineering Program, directed campers in the Engineering sessions on how to design, create, and test catapults using popsicle stick, rubber bands, and bottle caps. After campers built their catapults, they tested them outdoors and indoors by launching small objects and seeing how far they flew.