February 23, 2025
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Challand Middle School students demonstrate STEM experiments

By Alex T. Paschal
Sterling Challand Middle School eighth grade science and STEM teacher Jim Shamp point to sixth grader Kylie Shank’s Hoover Dam model during a STEM exhibit Thursday, March 9, 2023. Shank discovered that 7 million tourists a year visit the landmark, including a trip recently with her family.

Sterling Challand Middle School eighth grade science and STEM teacher Jim Shamp points to sixth grader Kylie Shank’s Hoover Dam model during a STEM exhibit Thursday, March 9, 2023. Shank discovered during her own family's trip that 7 million tourists a year visit the landmark annually. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

STERLING – What is elephant toothpaste? Is Gatorade a good growth medium for plants?

Those and other interesting questions were tested by sixth and eighth graders at Challand Middle School in Sterling. Their projects were then made part of an exhibit emphasizing STEM lessons in science, technology, engineering and math.

Some experiments tried to answer interesting questions such as “Do cats see in the dark?”

Others seemed more geared to pleasing the palette: “What is the science behind making homemade ice cream?”

The results of that final experiment got devoured, by the way.

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Sixth grader Danny Rodriguez show off his mechanical cardboard hand during a STEM exhibit at Challand Middle School in Sterling Thursday, March 9, 2023. The hand can pick up small and light objects. Students were allowed to freely choose they exhibits with sixth graders choosing a model base and eighth graders an experiment based display.

Sixth grader Danny Rodriguez show off his mechanical cardboard hand during a STEM exhibit at Challand Middle School in Sterling Thursday, March 9, 2023. The hand can pick up small and light objects. Students were allowed to freely choose they exhibits with sixth graders choosing a model base and eighth graders an experiment based display. (Alex T. Paschal - apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

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Alex Paschal

Alex T. Paschal

Photojournalist/columnist for Sauk Valley Media