Students in fourth through eighth grade from Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties competed in the IU1 STEM Design Challenge featuring K’Nex on , at California University of Pennsylvania. Teams of four students were faced in November with the challenge of creating a structure made only from K’Nex that would move a ping pong ball a distance of four feet and stop. Teams had two hours to complete their project and got a chance to test their team work and on the spot engineering during the challenge.
More than 20 teams from school districts—which included Avella, California Area, Canon-McMillan, Connellsville Area, Fort Cherry, Laurel Highlands, McGuffey, Peters Township, Ringgold, Trinity Area, and Washington—competed throughout the day presenting their structures and blueprints to a panel of judges that consisted of university, business, and Intermediate Unit 1 representatives.
Mr. Charles F. Mahoney III, IU1 Executive Director, and Mr. Donald Martin, IU1 Assistant Executive Director, stopped in to speak with the students and congratulate the teams on their accomplishments. Each team represented their school well and had the opportunity to show off their innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills, but only the highest scoring team in fourth–fifth grade and sixth–eighth grade divisions will move onto the state competition in Harrisburg on .
The first place teams that will be representing IU1 at the state competition in May are Trinity East (fourth–fifth grade division) and Peters Township—McMurray Elementary (sixth–eighth grade division). IU1 would like to congratulate all of the teams that competed and wishes the Trinity East and Peters Township—McMurray Elementary teams good luck at the state competition!
Winning teams in fourth to fifth grade include:
- First place: Trinity East Elementary
- Second place: Washington (Team 2)
- Third place: California Elementary
Winning teams in sixth to eighth grade include:
- First place: Peters Township—McMurray Elementary
- Second place: Fort Cherry (Team 2)
- Third place: Fort Cherry (Team 1)
IU1 would like to recognize and thank the team advisers, judges, and California University of Pennsylvania for their dedication and support of the students competing in the IU1 STEM Design Challenge featuring K’Nex. We look forward to next year’s competition!