Island Park students explore big science day

Island Park students at Lincoln Orens Middle School participated in Big Science Day, an in-school program facilitated by the New York Hall of Science. The event took place in the school’s gymnasium on Feb. 15 and gave students the opportunity to explore various STEM-related activities.

In addition to each of the middle school grades participating, Island Park pre-K students partnered with eighth grade buddies who helped them enjoy the hands-on experiences.

Six interactive stations were set up in the gymnasium which included a Shake Table Challenge giving students a chance to construct a structure capable of withstanding a simulated earthquake, Water Striders were created using various materials to make objects float and move to wind power, and Whirlygigs also known as paper helicopters were made to test flight patterns.

A Rocking’ Rockets station allowed students to explore the principles of flight by designing and launching a straw rocket, students created an optical illusion toy by learning about paper animation and students built a ramp to launch a marble at the ski jump table to explore energy.