Read the article in Milford Daily News about Woodland Elementary School students’ success at the STEM Week Challenge Showcase for Project Lead The Way students.

Nine-year-old Nathaniel Kerr of Milford is STEM champ

By Cesareo Contreras / Daily News Staff
Posted Nov 27, 2019 at 4:08 PM
Updated Nov 27, 2019 at 4:40 PM

“He did a wonderful job overcoming obstacles and changing his schematics design when he hit a road block,” wrote Stephanie Kelley, a scientist at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

MILFORD – When Ann Anderson challenged her fourth-grade science students at Woodland Elementary School to take part in the STEM Week Challenge from Oct. 21-25, she was impressed with their dedication.

One student in particular stood out – 9-year old Nathaniel Kerr. After some trial and error with circuit boards and wiring, Nate developed a working-prototype of a solar-powered fan. His goal was to help develop long-term solution for homes to use less electricity.

So impressed with his work, Anderson submitted it for the project’s online competition, specifically the “Energy Waste” category for third- to fifth-graders. Sixty thousand students from more than 400 schools around the state participated in the challenge, according to the website of Mass STEM Hub, a co-host of the Challenge.

Nate won first place.

“It was very exciting, surprising also,” the fourth-grader told the Daily News. “I gained a lot of knowledge about circuits and wires and how they work. It made me more interested in electrical engineering.”

The challenge gave students an opportunity to develop scientific solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues – from food waste to the energy crisis. Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit that develops stem curricula for schools, and Mass STEM Hub, a program of the One8 Foundation that partners with schools to implement applied learning programs, co-hosted the event.

Judges were impressed with Nate’s technical ability and overall project design, said Anderson.

“I was very impressed by the understanding of electricity that this young man has. He did a wonderful job overcoming obstacles and changing his schematics design when he hit a road block,” wrote Stephanie Kelley, a scientist at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. “I would like to see this in a larger-scale model or more open, so it is more evident what he is doing with the solar power. I could only see a fan running, but it sounded like there was more going on.”

In his paper describing the fan, Nate took note of some of the challenges he faced while completing his project and how he overcame them.

He initially wanted to put a flap on the roof of the house to let cool air in and hot air out. But he quickly realized that wouldn’t be possible with the motor he had. So instead, Nate decided to place solar panels on the roof of a house and a fan inside. Electrical energy produced by the panels would then be transferred to the fan to cool the inside of the home.

While the solar panels produce energy, he also wanted a way to store energy, so in his final model, he included rechargeable batteries.

“When (my students) were told they could create, collaborate and design from upcycled materials from school and at home, the energy discussions were rich, the friendship bonds were strengthen and creatively flowed around here,” said Anderson.

Anderson wanted her students to participate in the challenge after she participated in a workshop about project-based learning last summer.

“I was hoping to give a real-work experience for my students and talk about lessening their carbon footprint around energy waste, as energy is a science topic in fourth grade,” she said.

For his efforts, Kerr was awarded a field trip with 30 classmates to the Wind Technology Testing Center in Boston. He was also given a Celtics and Bruins hat and T-shirt.

Cesareo Contreras writes about environmental issues and technology for the Daily News. He can be reached at 508-626-3957 or ccontreras@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @cesareo_r.