After seven weeks of focused work, GO Middle’s 6th grade class presented their science projects in the first annual GO Middle Science Fair.

The theme of the exhibition was “How Can We Keep Our City Green?”. The projects were centered on a well blended STEM curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), enabling students to enhance their skills in all four academic areas while creating their science exhibits. Students based their projects on ‘Ad-Hoc’ recycling, a special form of repurposing in which an item is used for something else besides its original, intended purpose. Students used items that are rarely recycled properly and often end up in landfills, such as plastic. For instance, three 6th graders, Darious, Jarred, and Jake, brilliantly transformed Metro Cards into wallets and paper holders while
Gianni and Sofia creatively produced a recliner out of old soda bottles.

The inaugural year of the science fair was an overall success according to teachers and students. It will become an annual spring event for the GO Project’s 6th grade class.

Program Manager, Andrea Oliver, stated, “I enjoyed using a project-based learning framework this year. It allowed my students to apply critical thinking, problem solving, and presentation skills in order to solve real world issues. Implementing a STEM curriculum was essential so that the students could fully engage in the project-based learning experience.”