West Seattle’s first STEM-focused school showed off some of its specialties last night. It wasn’t just a “science fair” at Louisa Boren STEM K-8 – it was a Science Extravaganza! And this one even featured a wind tunnel:

That’s the reason we heard about the big event in the first place – via a spokesperson for McKinstry, the Seattle-headquartered company whose engineers mentored students, helping build the wind tunnel and donating materials for it. STEM students built model tower cranes and used the wind tunnel to test how they would respond under pressure. It’s first on the list of projects that STEM teacher Craig Parsley shared:

Science:

1. Wind Tunnel Dynamics of Common Home Designs in Hurricane Regions
2. Hydrodynamic Fisheries Tank to study Fresh vs. Salt Water Migration
3. Construction Materials Flame Testing Study
4. Newtonian Properties of Objects on an Incline
5. Color Bias in Decision Making
6. Chemical Deterioration Rates of Concrete Structures (Dams and Buildings)
7. Long-term Evaluation of Surface Water Chemistry in West Seattle Creek
8. Rural vs. Urban Water Quality Study

Engineering:

1. Forward-Deployed Mars Lander Decelerator Proposal to NASA
2. Carbon Filtration Device for Lawn Mower Exhaust
3. Fertilizer Compound for Low Income Farmers
4. Earthquake Simulator for Testing Tower Crane Designs (built by a student)
5. Kevlar-lined Soccer Sock to Prevent Cleat Lacerations

Principal Ben Ostrom tweeted some project photos during the event:

Check his Twitter feed for more.

P.S. This fall will mark the start of the fifth school year for Louisa Boren STEM, which opened in September 2012 as a K-5 school, but now is headed into the second year of its “roll-up” to a full K-8, adding 7th grade for 2016-2017.