STEM expo: sustainability has a central role.
During the April 8 third annual STEM Expo at Wellesley High School, students and residents showcased nearly 100 exhibits covering various aspects of STEM such as robots, technology and engineering innovation, coding, environmental education, chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology.
Three WHS Evolutions students who participate in a project-based learning environment exhibited the details and benefits of their aquaponics project.
This cycle complements both the lettuce grown above the tank and the water and fish below it, as the plants filter out and redistribute clean water back into the fish tank.
They learned that this system can be used to feed high school students greens in a cheaper and local way.
Since the Town of Wellesley is working to increase its national ranking for voluntary renewable energy through the Power To Choose Program — and make its lower carbon footprint goal — this year’s Sustainability Challenge was very topical.
"It was evident that these students put in a great deal of time and energy into researching the topic, forming opinions and creating their projects," said Jessica Stanton, of Wellesley Green Schools.
Middle school students did a similar project, as three different Design and Technology classes used the newly built greenhouse to create a sustainable system to grow the maximum quantity of high-quality greens to feed students at WMS.
“It’s a really nice way to preserve water and great way of growing.” Two other Evolutions students, Calvin Lindquist and Tommy Wasson, proposed installing solar panels on Wellesley Middle School after their research determined it would be beneficial for the school to do so.
By using a plastic model of a town, featuring hills, rivers, farms, homes, a factory and a golf course, people sprinkled different smaller substances around parts of the town, representing fertilizers and pesticides among others.