How tall is the marshmallow atop your spaghetti mast? Teachers try STEM projects

Teachers from across South Mississippi are preparing for the upcoming school year with the help of Ingalls Shipbuilding.

The company hosted a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workshop at its Maritime Training Academy on Friday.

The workshop sought to help teachers find innovative ways to introduce STEM applications into their classrooms. Teachers from the Pascagoula, Gautier, and Long Beach School districts got to participate in four STEM challenges.

“The Marshmallow Mast Challenge allows one to understand how ship masts work and how you can apply the lesson in a fun way,” Ingalls intern Marcus Cowan said of the popular group project. “The goal is to build the mast up and have it free standing with the marshmallow at the highest point of the structure.

“The tools for the activity were 20 pieces of spaghetti, 1 yard of tape, 1 yard of string and one marshmallow. Whoever had the highest marshmallow won the challenge.”

Representatives from the Ingalls Shipbuilder Women Engineers resource group reinforced critical thinking for the classrooms.

“Our STEM workshop that is geared toward our teachers to help them to understand what tools they can have in the classroom to introduce stem fields to their students,” said Davida Cunningham of Ingalls Shipbuilder Women Engineers. “We do hands-on activities with the teachers. Some are competitive, some are just experiments to get a grasp and how to engage their students and inspire their interests into the different engineering disciplines. We concentrate on chemical, civil, electrical and mechanical (engineering).”

So far this year, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding divison has awarded nearly $100,000 in grants for 25 STEM projects to schools and educational institutions in Mississippi and Alabama. In Mississippi, grants were awarded to Gulfport Central Middle, Handcock Middle, St. Martin Upper Elementary, Gulfport High, Ocean Springs Elementary, Oak Park Elementary, Woolmarket Elementary, Pascagoula High, Gautier Middle, Resurrection Catholic Elementary, St. Patrick Catholic High, Singing River Academy, St. Martin High and Magnolia Middle.

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 5:35 PM with the headline "How tall is the marshmallow atop your spaghetti mast? Teachers try STEM projects."