Students and parents from around the coastal area swarmed Brunswick High School Saturday for a day of hands-on learning and reading at the second Glynn County Schools STEAMFest.
Various schools, nonprofits, government agencies and companies were invited to set up in the school’s common areas, said Assistant Glynn County Schools Superintendent Eric Benson, and dozens of them responded.
Each table had to provide some kind of activity touching on one or all of the parts of STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — and a book for kids to take home. Many of the groups started to run out less than an hour into the event due to the heavy turnout.
“This is our second year doing this,” Benson said. “You can see what the reaction’s been. The kids just love it.”
At one table a child might learn a little about electrical currents by breaking and completing circuits corresponding to different notes on a digital drum or piano. Across the way, others were getting take-home biodegradable pots to fill with dirt and seedlings.
eachers at Jane Macon Middle School rigged up a big pendulum with a paint bottle on the end. It was all duct tape and wood, with two ladders to hold it up off the ground. Each swing left a trail of paint, and the teachers demonstrated how to calculate the period of a pendulum.
Science teacher Abner Zachary said the paint was just for fun. He and the other staffers were running some tests on brown paper but planned to lay a big canvas under the pendulum so kids could make a permanent piece of art for the school.
While it was sponsored by Glynn County Schools and hosted at Brunswick High, Benson said every STEAMFest was open to private school students, homeschoolers and the general public.
For more information, visit glynn.k12.ga.us.