Five fifth graders huddled around a table.

Behind their safety glasses, their eyes were fixed on three high school students swirling a liquid, heated with an infrared thermometer.

No one blinked as a balloon expanded to the point of bursting, thrilling the onlookers with a loud “pop.”

This was no ordinary day at the high school STEAM Lab.

This was the day high school students demonstrated what they had learned to their elementary counterparts.

The event was not only about spectacle but about explanations as well.

“The gas is very flammable, so it produces a lot of heat,” explained Brandon Smeltz, lighting the flame. “We’re going to light a stick and then hear and see what happens.”

“Hydrochloric acid in the beaker produces all these gas bubbles in an exothermic reaction, which means it produces heat,” reiterated Joe Bolsover. “The hydrochloric acid and magnesium produce hydrogen, which causes the explosion.”

“We can predict what’s going to happen when we mix things,” said Justin Gruber, who was trying to give the experiment additional context.

The younger students took it all in.

“It was so interesting to see how a chemical with dish soap and another chemical can make an explosion,” Angelo Granato said.

A few feet away, fifth graders were making musical sounds using fruit instead of instruments.

“This project is a mix of chemistry and physics, where the two kind of cross,” said Landen Lloyd, who manned the station.

“We store a little electric charge naturally,” Lloyd explained. “When you touch the object, in this case a fruit, it makes a circuit. It definitely has a wow factor.”

“It’s really cool and interesting to see how you can make a balloon pop, or how you can make fruit have sounds,” Matthias Morales said. “These are things that you normally don’t see happen.”

The fifth grader spoke the truth.

Morales and his peers were the willing participants of what has become an annual event.

“It’s great for the elementary kids to see,” said math teacher Jeremy Smoyer, who originated the event with his wife, Tracy, an elementary school art teacher.

“It’s not just a regular lesson that’s done in a regular block.”

“We’ve been planning for this for a couple of months now,” said Maker Club President Thomas Bell. “This is designed to get the fifth graders inspired and get them to be creative.”

The Maker Club has from 10 to 15 members,

“[However], we have a lot of people who come out for big projects like this, Bell said. “This time, the chemistry students came down to stage a demonstration for us.”

Jeremy Smoyer, the club’s adviser, explained how it came about the chemistry students took part in the event.

“Hearing that the students had to come up with a demo for Mrs. [Coral] Suppan’s AP chemistry class, I asked if they could come to do one for this event,” Smoyer said.

Help came from other students as well.

“I’ve only been in this room once, but I was really amazed by it, so that when Mr. Smoyer asked for people to sign up, I did,” Emma Burton said. “He’s my calculus teacher and he was talking about the event with some of my classmates, and I was really interested in it.”

District Superintendent Jennifer Holman watched with interest as young and older students interacted in the unique environment.

“Our high school students get to teach our elementary school kids what they learn in a safe way,” she said appreciatively. “It’s a great opportunity for elementary students to come to the high school.”

“I generally think the fifth graders really enjoyed it,” agreed Burton, overlooking the slime station. “For many of them, this was the first time they were even in the high school.”

“The slime is one of the most popular stations,” Bell said smiling.

“I just like it when kids are happy. The main goal is to get the kids inspired about the different sciences, math, art, and engineering.”

Enthusiasm for STEAM is on the rise.

“We have STEAM labs in all of our buildings now,” Holman said. “It’s valuable to be able to tinker and apply what students learn in a creative and authentic way.”

According to Tracy Smoyer, STEAM has become increasingly popular in educational circles.

“People know the acronym now. The administration is more supportive, and it is more acceptable seeing all the subjects together,” Tracy Smoyer said.

“In elementary school, there are not as many opportunities to do things like this and so being able to see what they can accomplish or be involved in, is eye-opening for them,” Burton said. “It’s a good idea to get kids to expand their horizons.”

“It’s great to get the elementary kids excited about the STEAM fields,” agreed Jeremy Smoyer. “It gives our high school kids an opportunity to be authentic with what they learn and gives them a chance to demonstrate that.”

The Smoyers were pleased with how the high school students took the leadership role in developing a meaningful learning opportunity for all.

“They took over a lot this year. They came to me last year and said there were projects they wanted to do,” Jeremy Smoyer explained.

“I gave them some ideas to start and I told them from my own personal experience what would go really smooth and what would give them a headache and they took it from there.”

Tracy Smoyer concurred.

“I honestly think the high school kids have taken more of a leadership role this year,” she said. “At first it was Jeremy and I making all the decisions regarding the different stations and trying to hit all the STEAM points, but not this year.”

Tracy Smoyer could not help but notice that the first fifth graders to participate are now freshman.

Before leaving the lab, Bell promised “yet another special treat.

“We’ve got the best thing ever. You see the Christmas lights strung all over the place? So now enjoy.”

And with that, commenced a light and music show that was a fitting close to a unique experience.