'If you can make learning fun, it sticks': Students compete in Contrapt Competition

 

WAUKESHA COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Students from local schools participated in the Greater Waukesha Contrapt Competition on Friday, April 26.

The competition consists of teams of students designing and building a complex machine using everyday objects.

"Their projects are chain reaction machines with 8 to 20 steps, all to roll a die at the very end," STEM Forward Executive Director Rich Merkel said.

STEM Forward, a nonprofit that focuses on inspiring the next generation of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals, hosts the annual contest.

"Seeing that lightbulb and that spark goes on as they get excited about adding math or science to their machine, it's so cool," Merkel said.

The students were middle schoolers from around Waukesha County who worked in teams of 3-5.

"Problem solving and engineering is my favorite thing out of this," student Micah Kopf said. "After every run, you have to look at what happened, what's wrong, and then you have to find new ways to fix it."

Judges went around rating the projects that were unique to each group.

"When we heard that the theme was roll the dice, we immediately thought of 'Dungeons & Dragons' because we do that a bunch," student Savannah Sherry said. "We implemented elements of the game throughout our design."

Giving the kids the reins to create everything themselves teaches STEM in a way organizers hope will light a fire for the field.

"If you can make learning fun, it sticks," Merkel said.

For more information on STEM Forward, visit their website.