DVIDS-News – STEAM students participate at Old Hickory Dam Environmental Awareness Day

HENDERSONVILLE (Tenn.) – Third grade science, technology and engineering students from Union Elementary, Sumner County magnet, took part in the Environmental Awareness Day at Old Hickory Dam.
The group of 80 children arrived early to tour the hydropower facility. They were accompanied by 20 chaperones, five teachers, and were split into three groups that visited the powerplant, lock, dam, and playground area.
We want to give kids an inside look at the Corps of Engineer, some of the science and technology behind it, and tie it into their education, said Capt. Capt. Brian Sekita.

Park rangers and Old Hickory Powerplant personnel ensured that the children were able to seamlessly move from one event or another, answering all their questions.
Natural Resource Park Ranger Emily Johnson stated that we have presenters who will be giving educational presentations to the children about Old Hickory Lake’s water. We have participants both from Tennessee and Hendersonville.
The children were able to see a replica of a small town in an outdoor hydropower class. They could also observe how the rain affects the town if there are no water management structures.
My favorite part was the little dam. It was so much fun to see tiny houses wash away by water. But, it’s not as much fun when big houses get wet in real life, said Gunner Kingrey, STEAM student.
David Withers from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation explained how salamanders can be affected by their environment and their importance in the ecosystem. Children saw live salamanders and learned about their carnivore diets.
STEAM student Liam Sporin said that his favorite part about the day was learning about salamanders. He said that he wants to be a marine biologist and was thrilled to see amphibians today.
Liam, whose dad works at the powerplant said that he is proud of his dad’s hard work at the powerplant.
It was so great that my class got to visit my dad’s place. Liam said that we were able to see parts of the powerplant that I had never seen before.
Nathan Sporin, Senior Electronics Engineer at Power Plant, coordinated the field trip with Union Elementary to show future engineers how hydropower and STEAM can go hand-in-hand.
Sporin said that as the father of one of these children, I am proud to stand alongside the rest of the team and show my son the great work we do every day, the amazing resources and facilities that we have guardianship over, and the amazing people I get to work with every day.
It was quite amazing how much these children knew about hydropower. And the questions they asked showed a deep curiosity in the topics we were covering with ’em, Civil Engineer Gabe Wagner.
Johnson said it was an amazing experience to have such large groups visit Old Hickory facilities. Now that COVID restrictions have been lifted, Johnson hopes that more filed trips like this will take place.
Johnson stated that it’s wonderful that we can do this as park rangers, which isn’t what we normally do at Old Hickory. Our jobs are different. It’s great that we get to do this, and it’s also our Environmental Awareness Day.
Nashville District plans to conduct more STEAM tours in near future to provide STEAM students with information about potential job opportunities.
(The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the districts website at www.lrn.usace.army.mil, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps.)