Hillside held its inaugural Science Day on Fri., April 20. The event, which replaced the school’s evening Science Fair, gave all students the opportunity to participate in the science experience.
“What an electrifying day,” said Hillside Principal Samanthaa Anglin. “Students, staff, and parents enthusiastically participated in every moment of the event.”
Each grade level had a set schedule and students traveled about the building with their homeroom and/or switch teacher to a variety of activities including a hands on activity that corresponds to the FOSS science content from cycle 2 and a team-building session where students engaged in various challenges that required teamwork to achieve success. A panel of scientists and engineers shared their career and inspirational childhood experiences, allowing students the opportunity to see themselves in any one of the presented careers.
The Franklin Institute conducted an assembly, “Motion and Machines - Roll, Slide, and Spin!” which investigated the basic physics of motion in this interactive show using rubber balls, bricks, and wooden blocks to introduce and understand Newton’s Laws of Motion. Then students witnessed these laws in action in a lever, pulley, and student-driven hover car.
The main event of the day was the afternoon Maker Challenge where teams of students were challenged to construct a Rube Goldberg apparatus that conforms to certain criteria.
Principal Anglin said the day-long event would not have been possible without the collaborative effort of the Hillside community. “Thank you to Sue Bermeo, Kala Miller, Vate Powell, Erin Walter, Linda Kow, Vanessa Schrieber, Michelle Blanchfield, Barbie Cassisus, Beth Larson, Gina Fortt, Leslie Mills DeMarco, all the Hillside teachers and paraprofessionals, our Hillside parent volunteers, Glenfield Middle School volunteers, MSU Wipro Science Education Fellowship Program, the MFEE and the Hillside PTA.”