Now, let me start out this piece with a slight disclaimer: I love science and everything about it, so I come from an extremely biased point of view in that I’ll say that everything is simply amazing as long as it is science-related. Which means that I’m not so easily impressed. I read scientific articles everyday and have been a little jaded by all the cool things scientists make everyday. So, everything is simply amazing, and not much more. Usually.
The SEARCH showcase event, which happened on Thursday, December 18th, 2014, was superbly, out-of-this-world amazing. Perhaps you think by now that I do it no justice by saying this, but you would really have to step into the library to see for yourself; group presentations ranged from physical science topics to chemistry (my favorite!), to creating these magical lunchboxes and a soon-to-be marketed app that would allow me to never forget to finish drinking my milk before it expires.
My mind (which had already been fried that week due to finals testing) was constantly being fired at with novel ideas, engineering, and things that I had never dreamt was possible in the seventh and eighth grades. Who knew that showers could still be revolutionized? Or even pencils and toothbrushes? Each group took a “normal” part of my everyday life and transformed it into something that was either more effective, cheaper, or easier to use. All of the projects were extremely creative--I especially liked the magical lunchbox, which used calcium chloride to heat up food (that was my brother’s favorite too!).
I had brought along my little brother, who’s a crazy programming-loving rising sixth grader, and he got super excited by the cool stuff he’ll get to do in the next few years. In fact, it’s getting to be quite impossible to make him stop talking about calcium chloride and TinkerCAD. I’ll check on with him in a couple years and see how much inspiration this gave him (probably a lot!). (I, on the other hand, who had no coding experience prior to this year and absolutely no opportunities like this before high school, was extremely jealous.)
Every single presentation contained the business dynamics of their model--including a run down on the main competitors, the objectives of the business, and a business plan. To see specifics about each group, check out Pranav Lalgudi’s article. (I had been too busy looking at the presentation and thinking that I forgot to actually write anything down, woops). This type of real-world application--especially the business aspect!--incorporated into STEM is a truly valuable experience, and I wish that something like this was available for me right now--I would very much love to take all the textbook information I’m learning and put it into practical use, without needing any type of expensive lab equipment.
As I exited the library, all the presenters lined up in the front and took a picture with the mastermind behind all this, Ms. Chou, and I realized that it only takes one person to create an astonishing impact on so many people. We are lucky for SEARCH, for innovative minds, and for magical lunchboxes.