Mill Creek MS students Sara Salmond, Kevin Phan and Drew Cuppia listen to feedback from Jack Wood with the Georgia Tech Research Institute regarding their vehicle powered by alternative fuels. 

Georgia STEM Day 2019 had students in CCSD middle school classrooms working in teams to creatively solve problems and generate solutions, such as imagining a car that runs on a variety of alternative fuels, designing a stadium shaped like a soda bottle and using virtual reality as a daily classroom resource.  Each grade level had a specific challenge, which was addressed from a different aspect as students moved through their subject area classes throughout the day.  The challenges assigned by grade level were:

Sixth Grade:  Investigate piezoelectricity and how can we use alternate forms of energy to meet human needs.

Seventh Grade: Design a sustainable multi-use stadium for Cherokee County, and write a proposal to seek approval from the planning commission.

Eighth Grade:  Use augmented reality and virtual reality to design an application to enhance a student’s personalized learning experience.

CCSD middle school students explored these problems and drafted their own solutions while participating in Georgia STEM Day on Friday, May 3.  Students used the Engineering Design Process to think through a Grand Challenge inspired by the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering.  Using videos and materials developed by the Georgia Tech Research Institute, students tackled their assigned problems across multiple subject areas throughout the day—and got to pitch their ideas to GTRI scientists and researchers to determine feasibility and get feedback to tweak their proposals. 

Sean Mulvanity, standing, senior research associate and STEM Curriculum Development Lead with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, listens to Dean Rusk MS students Jake Koster, Brittany Bowers and Cara Doan talk through their design ideas.