Rockets were launched, roller coasters were built, and robots were operated by children at UNC Wilmington’s STEM Expo on April 19.

The STEM Expo, which was hosted by the Watson College of Education, was put together to heighten the community’s interest and engagement in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. During April, similar events are held all over the state in partnership with the North Carolina Science Festival.

The education building was lined with interactive booths from various departments and organizations at UNCW, where children could engage in STEM related activities. Children entering immediately sought out UNCW’s Department of Math and Statistics booth, where they could stomp on a pump to launch a foam rocket high into the air of the three-story building.

The event was organized around a “space” theme, with each booth representing a different part of space. On the third floor, “Inner Space” was represented by UNCW’s School of Nursing, where they had a puppet show set up that would teach children about the importance of being active. Nursing students in a pediatrics course perform the show for elementary schools in the Wilmington area.

“There was one little boy, who at first when we came was like ‘A puppet show?! No!'” said Crystal Manning, a senior at the School of Nursing. “But once we did it he loved it! He said, ‘Do it again!'”

A floor below, the Wired Wizards demonstrated the robot that they spent over 1,250 hours making. The Wired Wizards, a group of high school students who build and program robots, was started by UNCW’s Association for Computing Machinery as a community service project last winter. Although it was their first year building a robot, the Wired Wizards placed 19th out of 55 at the FIRST Robotics Competition in Raleigh, and won 2nd place out of the 8 rookie teams.

“There aren’t really a lot of STEM opportunities for high school students to learn about this kind of stuff,” said Jazmin Capezza, the president of ACM. She is in the process of starting a non-profit organization that will focus on starting more robotics teams in the area.

On the other side of the building, Women in Science and Engineering tested the strength capabilities of Kevlar versus spider silk. A floor above, a portable planetarium displayed projections of the stars. Back on the first floor, the Chemistry Club helped children visualize fingerprints. To their left, MarineQuest explained to children why crabs are red.

Outside of the education building, Adam Branson, a MarineQuest volunteer, put together a model remotely operated vehicle. ROVs are what was used during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill to cap the sea-floor oil gusher. According to Branson, when he posed the problem of capping the oil well to children, they were able to come to a solution using the ROVs within a week.

“The minds of children! They think outside of the bounds of what we usually think of,” Branson said.

Branson, like everyone volunteering at the STEM Expo, was glad to see the children engaging in the activities they had provided for them.

“We need all the young minds we can get,” Branson said.