IRON MOUNTAIN - More than 400 students will be making their way to the Iron Mountain High School and Middle School Complex for the 15th Regional Science Fair on Saturday, April 25.
The Dickinson-Iron-Menominee Mathematics, Science and Technology Center is hosting the event which is open to all area students.
The fourth through eighth grade students will be exhibiting traditional experiments which are done using the scientific method.
Their experiments will be set up in the high school gym. Students can start setting up their projects and experiments at 9 a.m. There will a concessions stand run by area volunteers for the parents and students to buy snacks or lunch at the Iron Mountain Middle School Complex.
The regional event includes 26 volunteer judges who will be scoring the projects and interviewing the students.
Judging starts at 10 a.m. and will be finished by noon. The public is invited to view the projects from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. An awards ceremony will immediately follow with first, second and third place winners in each category.
Each participating student will receive a gift.
Students involved in the event will be from Dickinson, Iron and Menominee counties as well as Wisconsin schools.
This marks the 15th year that We Energies will serve as the corporate sponsor for the science fair.
"It is through doing science that students learn to ask questions of the world around them and to use a structured process to examine those questions," said Dee Benjamin, director of the Math Science Center.
She noted that students who participate in science fairs, conducting the traditional science experiments develop a better understanding of problem solving, using and understand data, familiarity with graphs and charts and scientific concepts.
"Many of the MEAP items require the students have this knowledge," she said.
"State wide data is also lining success on the Science MEAP test with students who participate in science fairs," Benjamin said. "It is a chance to apply in real world terms what they are learning in school."
The Science Fair is open to the public starting at 12:30 p.m.