Middle school students excel in science courses
The Stars Challenge to offer more classes this month at Mon. U

Students of "The Stars Challenge" explore Whale Pond Brook on campus at Monmouth University during an environmental class.

WEST LONG BRANCH - Students who attended "The Stars Challenge" science enrichment program at Monmouth University this fall were acknowledged for their accomplishments at a celebration event last month.

The Stars Challenge is a science enrichment program hosted by Monmouth University in West Long Branch for top sixth- through ninth-grade students.

The celebration event, where students presented the results of scientific projects they worked on during the semester, was held Dec. 17 in Wilson Hall Auditorium at Monmouth University.

The Stars Challenge fall program consisted of four classes with 55 students from 22 local schools, according to a press release from Monmouth University.

Since the inception of the program in January 2006, 15 classes have been taught to more than 200 students, according to the release.

The courses offered to the students in the fall include the following: The Environment and You, Robotics Revolution, Introduction to Experimental Design and a physics course called Explore, Imagine and Build.

Stars Challenge student Danny Greenbery, a seventh-grader at Cedar Drive School in Colts Neck, studies tension of water.

A winter semester is expected to begin this month and the program will be offering the following five courses to motivated middle school students: Forensics, Is It Science or Magic, Robotics Exploration, The Universe and You and a physics course called Explore, Create Build and Understand.

"The Stars Challenge is tapping into a large unmet need for talented students to explore their interests in science and technology," according to the release from Monmouth University.

"The program has grown from one course with 18 students in the winter of 2006 to four courses with 55 students at Monmouth University in the fall of 2007," the release states.

The program was developed by Dr. Margaret Ann Chappell and Dr. Stephen G. Chappell to nurture students' passion and curiosity about science by offering unique classes designed and taught by "exemplary" teachers, according to the release.

Stars Challenge student Nicholas Nuzzo, a seventh-grader at Cedar Drive School, tests a magnetic levitation cart that he built in the Introduction to Experimental Design class.

Classes focus on real-world problems, allowing students to work in small groups to create innovative solutions, according to the release.

The program offers a variety of science courses during a winter and fall semester at the university. The semester runs for 10 weeks and each class meets for two hours in the evening, once a week.

A typical class includes 20 to 30 minutes of discussion followed by an hour-and-a-half of hands-on work, according to Stephen Chappell.

In last semester's "The Environment and You" class, students analyzed Whale Pond Brook on the Monmouth University campus. The students donned waders, got stuck in mud, collected samples of the macro invertebrates in the stream and collected water samples.

In the "Robotics Revolution" class, students learned to build and program autonomous robots using the Lego Mindstorms NXT Robotic kits, according to the release.

The highlight of the "Introduction to Experimental Design" class, according to the release, was a trip to a lab at the High Technology High School where the Stars Challenge middle school students worked with their high school mentors to complete experimental designs.

Students learned what happens to the power when a circuit breaker trips during the "Explore, Imagine and Build" class, according to the release.

For more information on the Stars Challenge, visit www.starschallenge.org.