In April, 21 Houlton Middle School seventh- and eighth-graders had the opportunity to become NASA scientists and engineers at the first Maine Physical Science Partnership (PSP) Student Summit. The collaborative design challenge: “Keep the Life-form Alive” required that teams of students successfully send a life-form (an egg) to explore a new planet in a nearby solar system. The Houlton teams competed with other teams around the state using teamwork, creativity and ingenuity along with the science and technology skills they learned in the classroom this year.
The seventh-grade team had to design and build a space pod that could travel along a zip line to the planet’s surface without damaging the egg. The eighth-grade team had to design and build a mechanism that could fly an egg in its space pod across a wide rift valley landing as close to a target as possible without damaging the egg. Both teams were scored by how well they budgeted their materials and on the condition of their egg after the task was performed. The day was filled with teams designing, testing, and competing in elimination rounds and, as you can imagine, lots of noise as teams cheered each other on.
It wasn’t all work. Students were greeted in the morning with snacks and a variety of fun warm-up activities. This was followed by a comical skit by members of the PSP that really set the tone for the day. At lunch time students were able to tour the University and fill up at an all you can eat buffet. The University did a great job. The students had nothing but praise for the variety and quality of the food served for lunch.
After lunch it was all business. Students who qualified for the final rounds were busy tuning up and testing their designs for the final competition while others were making posters to support their school’s teams. Anyone walking through the rooms where students were working and collaborating could feel a real sense of purpose among these students as they prepared for the final competition. When the final rounds came the competition was filled with nervousness, excitement, disappointment, triumph, and comedy but most of all lots of fun and a sense of accomplishment for everyone. The cheering and the waving of posters rivaled the fans at any Red Sox or Patriots game.
Cheers and congratulations go out to the Houlton Grade 8 Shires teams who placed second and fourth in the final rounds of competition. The second-place team was made up of Sydney Sides, Makenzie Fitzpatrick and Rothery Sullivan. Dakota Keizer, Zach Koretsky, Rachel Sutherland, and Hunter Boyce made up our fourth place team. Both teams worked hard and were certainly role models for teamwork. The seventh grade team of Emma Foster, Khailynn Prosser, and Jonathan Smith won the Spirit Award, which they earned for their enthusiastic support for saving the eggs.
We can be proud of how our Middle School students represented Houlton. They gave up a Saturday to represent our school in this competition and every student gave their best efforts throughout the entire day. Even those who were eliminated never lost their enthusiasm not only to support our teams but those from other schools who competed against us! Go Shires!
