Technology and Math Collide
Story and Video by Joseph Lee, Maikel Johnson, Shanna Black, Alexis McLean, Aaron Jackson and Keniyah Ferguson.
Edited by Ari Cole. Photo by Michael Blackson.
(Story and Video prepared during FNN Summer '15 program.)
AUG. 25, 2015: On May 5, 2015, 6th and 7th graders put their projects in a STEM Fair that took place in the Tech Prep Middle School gym. We think the STEM Fair is an interesting way to learn about the different areas of science, technology, engineering and math. In the gym there were a variety of exhibits to check out.
Joseph Lee, Taeon William, Delonta Johnson and Larry Johnson showed us pictures of the types of cars the world will have in the future. And a technology slideshow showed us the steps of how to make a video game. They showed us a script, and showed us how to make the graphics. They had a picture of an older generation console and then they had a picture of a newer generation console to show us how the graphics evolved over the years. Larry showed us the evolution of phones. He had two pictures. One showed us the first cellphone and the other showed a new phone that came out in 2014. Delonta showed us careers about technology—like programing.
Maikel Johnson and Jesse Holmes combined technology and math to show how math is used in video game design. Basically, Jesse brought his old generation Nintendo Wii console and Maikel researched how 6th generation video games were made. All video games basically use the same coding. You have to use math to design action, like how many feet a player can fall until he/she dies. Also, they showed how physics and knowledge of triangles are used to design the 3D world. We did not know that triangles played a big role in 3D world design.
For the math portion Maikel put a multiplication table on the wall, and had people guess the number that were covered up. Maikel made a flash card game called “Mental Math Madness”. He had flash cards which had a number ending in zero, multiplied by another number. An example is 70 x 9, which is 630. The participants had 5 seconds to answer the question.
Aaron Jackson made "The Evolution Library". It contained books made by seventh graders about the evolution of different plants and animals. These included dogs, birds, horses, snakes, strawberries and fish. Aaron made a display on the different types of evolution.
Shanna Black had a medical field display that explained different jobs such as being a dentist, physician assistant, and physical therapist. She took blood pressure and checked students' and teachers' heart rates. It was like a day going to the doctor.
Alexis McLean did a demonstration on CPR. There were many people who did not know the steps of CPR. When
people visited the CPR station, she told them when to do CPR and when they should stop because the person is able to breath normally again. Everyone who came really liked the station because it was fun and educational. She used volunteers to show how to perform 30 compressions and mouth to mouth resuscitation.
Keniyah Ferguson and her partner Tanaya White did an Adopt-A-Block and Go Green poster. We wanted to get some inspiration from the Mayor’s input. Then we thought outside the box and called the Mayor’s office. When we called the Mayor’s office, we spoke with Mr.Wilson and Mr. Jones about having a Go Green Club (http://occc.dc.gov).
Mr. Wilson and Mr. Jones said they would come to our school on May 5th. We were so excited that somebody from the Mayor’s office was coming to Tech Prep. The expressions on Mr. Wilson face told me that he was having a good time and was excited about our STEM Fair.
Shadawn Fleming did a display about bugs, beetles as well as fruit bugs, caterpillars and more. Kids touched the caterpillar and some kids were scared.
Simone Hammond made a small model recreating The BIG Chair out of recycled bottles and boxes. We also had an invertebrate zoo and a model of a volcano.
Students from all over the seventh grade made replicas of inventions by African American inventors as a project for Black History Month. These included Garrett Morgan’s traffic light, George Washington Carver’s peanut butter, George Crum’s potato chips, Madam C.J Walker’s hair products, Robert Flemmings Jr.’s guitar, the Super Soaker by Lonnie G. Johnson and Sarah Boone, the first woman to ever receive a patent for an invention.
The DC National Guard showed us what they do to protect DC. They use planes and trucks to protect DC against attacks. They also told us about different careers in the National Guard related to STEM like engineering and computer design.
The STEM Fair was an opportunity to find out how the areas of Science, Technology Engineering and Math work together as a unit.The 6th and 7th graders worked really hard at the STEM Fair. It was enjoyable because everybody got to show off their displays.
Joseph Lee, Maikel Johnson, Shanna Black, Alexis McLean, Aaron Jackson, Keniyah Ferguson, and Michael Blackson are seventh grade students at Friendship Tech Prep Middle School.
Ari Cole is a third grade scholar at Friendship Southeast Academy.