High school students test their knowledge at Science Day

  Thursday, February 27, 2014 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

An estimated 700 high school students from Kansas and Missouri tested their knowledge in biology, chemistry and physics Thursday at PSU’s annual Science Day.

In addition to written exams, students worked in teams on a variety of hands-on tests of both their scientific knowledge and their creativity. In the paper tower competition, for example, students were challenged to build the tallest tower possible using only a single sheet of standard photocopier paper and one 50-cm. strip of cellophane tape. For the mousetrap car competition, they built and raced cars powered only by a mousetrap. In seismic shakers, the students built towers of craft sticks, glue and thumb tacks and then tested them on a device to simulate an earthquake.

Peter Chung, professor in biology, coordinated the event, which is sponsored by the PSU Biology Club.

“The students do a great job of organizing and making sure the event runs smoothly,” Chung said. “Their work is essential to the day’s success.”