On April 30, the students and teachers of Quantico Middle/High School took part in an all-day STEMposium in the gym. The event was a display of projects from various science, technology, engineering and math classes, collectively referred to as STEM classes, at the school.

QMHS science teacher John Hubert said that many of the projects were group endeavors, meaning the students got the chance to work on collaborating and communicating with others in addition to thinking through a scientific project.

Hubert said that every discipline in the school was actually represented at the STEMposium, not just traditional STEM classes. "One of the key concepts of STEM is that it is interdisciplinary, Hubert said.

One student’s project compared musical notes and sheet music to mathematical equations. A group of students developed an orienteering course that combined earth science knowledge with physical education. Since all of the students’ displays included written descriptions of their work, English coursework was represented as well.

Sophomore Shyanne, 15, completed a project on the genetic make-up of tortoiseshell cats. By comparing and analyzing pictures of cats with the tortoiseshell coloring and fur pattern, she determined that their phenotype, or physical representation of the genes, was caused by a random chromosome inactivation.

Several students had built robots in a robotics class, of which the school offers two. Tenth grader Daymon, 16, built a robot that incorporated a color sensor and was able to search for and follow a black line on a sheet of white paper and follow the line to a box. Once the robot was within a few inches of the box, it dispensed its cargo (a small blue ball) onto the top of the box. Daymon said he has been interested in robotics for a few years and enjoyed working on the project.