About 300 students and their families explored the world with wonder — without leaving their community.

It was Hawthorn Academy’s STEM night which offered activities for students to test density, program Sphero Indi cars, explore TinkerCAD, race soda cans with static electricity and more. The night’s theme matched the school’s: “Observe and Wonder.”

“A QR code takes them to the website that shows all the different activities we’re offering,” Hawthorn STEM coordinator Joy Leavitt said. “We have a lot of community support and outreach — ham radio, Women in MiningUtah, Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream, Rocky Mountain Power and the Clark Planetarium. 

Leavitt said both younger kids and older students loved the Code and Go Mice, where they could press the arrows to direct the mouse.

Another hit was the ham radio station.

“Both adults and kids were getting on the ham radio, reaching out to find someone on the other end,” she said, adding for many, it was their first experience with this form of communication.

Students also liked to design and create a recycled car with foam, assorted lids and sticks to make a base, tires and axles.

“They raced those down a ramp I had made from some old shelving and cardboard and PVC; everything in the room was reused, the ramp and our recycled racers. It was busy all night,” Leavitt said. “Obviously, Sub Zero was popular because after they showed how they make ice cream with liquid nitrogen, students got to taste some.”

Women in Mining brought a PVC pipe and a piece of tinsel tied into a ball. 

“It was cute; she would elevate this PVC with the tinsel ball. It was like static electricity, just levitating. Then the kids would have another PVC pipe like a wand, and she could pass the ball to them and they would try to levitate it a little,” Leavitt said, adding their display of rocks and minerals attracted families as well.

Fourth-graders learned more about conductivity with properties of matter, part of their core curriculum, along with fifth-graders, who study snap circuits, with Rocky Mountain’s presentation.

“They talked about circuits and demonstrated how if we want the light on and the fan to go at the same time, they need parallel circuits, otherwise the fan would shoot up and hit the ceiling, which he demonstrated so the kids really got to understand that,” she said.

Most every activity tied into students’ core curriculum, she added about the school’s first STEM night.

“I’ve done a lot of different hands-on activities so for this event, I offered activities where they can just come in and do an activity and go on to another so they could do as many as they liked. Some ideas came from other teachers and others came from STEM equipment we have and our 3D printing club as well as our community outreach folks,” Leavitt said. “I think when they see these community people, it gives them a learning of career and college readiness as well as kids are exposed to other fields and discover what STEM careers are out there. I just wanted them to kind of see the real-world application.”

Hawthorn Academy recently switched from its International Baccalaureate model to being a STEM-designated charter school.

“IB is very specific with its word usage and has a lot of requirements. We felt that being a STEM school offers similarities with problem solving, communication, curiosity and critical thinking, all things we are trying to accomplish. By shifting to a more national and state recognized program with a STEM curriculum focus, it’s clearer with what we are doing and it’s more universal for Utah and America,” she said.

Leavitt said it was good to see the students engaged in the activities.

“I was happy to see there weren’t any screens with all these activities and the kids were engrossed in what they were doing. These were hands-on activities where they were learning about different sciences and engineering and everything. It was good to have them explore that in a nonclassroom setting,” she said. “It was great we got the community there; so many people had smiles and had a really good time. That was our goal — learning and having fun together.”