Merced County Students Showcase Skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math at STEM Fair

The Merced County STEM Fair, held at the UC Merced Conference Center, brought together more than 70 elementary and middle school students from across the county to showcase 41 projects in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. 

Hosted by MCOE and sponsored by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Educational Employees Credit Union, UC Merced and the Merced County Education Foundation, the STEM Fair not only encourages students to pursue careers in STEM fields, but also provides them with the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and compete against their peers. 

Student projects from Merced City School District and Our Lady of Mercy received gold awards with the top six projects in the competition advancing to the California State Science and Engineering Fair.

The top six projects of the competition are:

• “Sunscreen Sustainability Evaluating the EcoFriendliness” by Zoey Hickman and Caleb Parker, 8th grade, Cruickshank Middle School
• “How Can We Stop Fake News?” by Anika Gopinathan, 8th grade, from Hoover Middle School.
• “Bridge” by Nathaniel Miller, 8th grade, from Cruickshank Middle School
• “The Power of the Flower” by Ryan Parker, 6th grade, from Chenoweth Elementary School.
• “Pea-lease Tell Me if Vitamin Supplements Speed Up Germination” by Paloma Day, 6th grade, from Our Lady of Mercy
• “An-eye-logous or Complementary” by Sahara "Grace" Isbell, 7th grade, from Hoover Middle School.

Participating school districts this year included Atwater Elementary, Plainsburg Union Elementary, Merced City, Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified and Our Lady of Mercy School.

Student projects were judged by a panel of local scientists and professors from UC Merced and Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group, among others. Only students in grades 6 through 8 are eligible to advance to the state competition.