STEM-ulating Minds at STEMania!
On Thursday, October 29th, VLK Architects joined 800 fourth graders from surrounding school districts at Weatherford College Wise County for STEMania. STEMania is an event that provides area fourth graders and their teachers with the opportunity to experience hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities.
'STEMania is a really great way to engage students and use fun activities to expose them to architecture. These students are the future of the profession, so we hope to make a memorable impact that will spark their interest in architecture,' said Josh Wilson, VLK Architects. 'We saw several hundred students throughout the day and they really seemed to enjoy it!'
For the third year, VLK Architects joined in teaching students about various trades and careers through a 'City Building' activity that allowed students to construct a city by coloring, cutting and taping paper structures to a map. VLK has challenged students with this type of activity before, this year they were sent to Mars to build the first Martian City. The task began with a blank Martian surface. By the end of the day, the surface became a dense city complete with indoor agriculture facilities, a railway, bridges, rocket launch stations, extreme high rise residential towers, commercial areas, and a WIFI tower.
'It is so good for the students to see how the STEM areas apply to so many different areas,' said Event Coordinator, Dr. Lisa Welch. 'I want to extend my appreciation and thanks to those that participated for helping make this year's STEMania a fantastic success!'