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Regional Science & Engineering Fair stirs up interest in STEM at Lake County Schools

Friday, February 3, 2012

Lake County Schools is encouraged by the increase in student involvement at the 2012 Lake Regional Science and Engineering Fair which jump starts interest in the ever important fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

More than 110 student projects will be on display during the annual Regional Science and Engineering Fair on Feb. 10-11 at Tavares Middle School, located at 13032 Lane Park Cutoff. Students will be representing two public high schools, eight public middle schools, one private high school and two private middle schools. Since 2008, the number of projects submitted by students from private and public schools has more than tripled.

"This is an excellent venue to promote STEM," said Claudia Rowe, Program Specialist in the Lake County Schools' Curriculum Department. "More students are entering projects and it's feeding the excitement in STEM careers."

Students from middle and high schools are eligible to submit their projects in one of 12 categories: behavior and social science, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, computer science, earth and planetary sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, mathematics, medicine and health, microbiology, physics and astronomy, and zoology.

Selection of the place winners in each category is based on the quality of the scientific study and the use of correct experimental protocol in following the scientific method to solve a problem. In judging all exhibits, emphasis is put on the student's individual contribution to the research and on their ingenuity. The high-school and middle-school winners of the 2012 Lake Regional Science and Engineering Fair that will move on to the 57th Annual State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida on April 3-5 in Lakeland.

Schedule of events for the Regional Science and Engineering Fair at Tavares Middle School:

February 10 - 5-7 p.m. - Project Set-up at Tavares Middle gym

February 11: 7:45-11 a.m. - Judging; 5-6 p.m. - Open to the public; 7-8 p.m. - Awards ceremony at Tavares Middle cafeteria.