By Jean Schurman
Imagine corralling a classroom of fourth graders and getting them excited about developing a science type project that doesn’t even exist. It’s up to the students to develop the concept, do the research, write the abstract and the history of the project, project the need for this idea 20 years in the future, design five web pages, and then submit the project. That is exactly what fourth grade teacher Merissa Mazur of Florence has done, although it was with some reluctance this year.
“They either like it or they hate it,” said Mazur on Friday. “But they do remember the process.”
This is not the first time Mazur’s done the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision contest and so she knew what she was in for. This effort is a group effort of not only students, but also parents. It is an intense four weeks for the students but with the support of the school, staff, Toshiba project alumni and of course, parents, they made it through.
Per an article in the Falcon View, the school newspaper, the Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision is the largest K-12 science competition in the world. The students look for situations where science can solve a problem. They not only use science, but also use technology, engineering, math and they must solve these issues as a group. (Think of that, three or four fourth graders working together for four weeks for a common goal.)
The groups must do scientific research and lay out their plans for testing their ideas. They also have to incorporate web pages to illustrate their ideas. They must also create a prototype to show what the project will look like in action. Lastly, they are also tasked with looking 20 years into the future and coming up with ideas that are based on the challenges of today.
Almost 16,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade participated in the Toshiba challenge this year. They submitted over 5,000 projects. These students were from the United States and from Canada. Honorable Mentions are awarded to the top 10 percent of all submitted projects internationally. Mazur’s class submitted six projects and three of those projects received Honorable Mentions. The only other winners from Montana were projects from Twin Bridges and from Polson.
Mazur had a difficult time telling the class because she knew how hard all of the students worked on their projects. But there was no mistaking the pride in the students, faculty, and the students’ parents at the award celebration on Friday.
“All the kids worked so hard. They know I think they are all awesome,” said Mazur. “But to have three projects selected is amazing.”
Here are the projects that were selected.
Cancer X – Olivia Raczykowski, Rayanna Roberts, Caelin Simmerman, Morgan Truth. “The purpose of our technology invention is to eliminate cancer around the world. Our group idea is called ‘Cancer-X.’ We came up with this concept because almost all of us know someone who has lost a loved one due to cancer. It is our goal to help eliminate cancer. To be able to make this dream of ours a reality, we first need a research lab. The lab would be able to test different formulas on a wide range of cancer cells. Once we found the right formula, we could then begin the process of making the vitamins. It would be a new form of chemotherapy without the radiation side effects and/or a large amount of medicines.”
DDV – Driverless Drone Vehicles – Isabella Larsen, Elise Schneiter, Megan Wilson. “DDV is the safest drone car combination. When driving as a drone, it will travel along airway roads which would be a part of a new airway road infrastructure. When driving as a car, it would sue the road systems that are in place today. DDV is fantastic for many different salutations. Stuck in a traffic jam? DDV will start flying up out of the jam! Worried about safety of loved ones? DDV has many safety sensors and self-driving features that save lives. Concerned about the environment? DDV drastically reduces pollution. The technology needed to make our idea work will be more advanced solar powered and electric cars, advanced drone technology, air traffic management for our airway roads, and a computerized sensor system with GPS that will detect and avoid all dangers on the roads and in the air.”
Magma Board – Jack Lippy, Jaden Jones, Caelin Simmerman.
“How crazy and far out is a hover board powered by magnets? Our idea is the MagmaBoard, a stable magnetic hover board. There are two models, a senior one, and a regular one. The only difference is the senior one has retractable handle bars. The deck is constructed of solid boron. The magnets we are using are electromagnets, giving the user the ability to turn the board on or off. Our power source is Fire Trust batteries. The MagmaBoard requires magnetic sidewalks and smaller batteries with the same charge as larger batteries. Our secondary power source is a fan generator powered by repelling magnets. The hover board is eco-friendly and the difference from other is it has the potential to be actually real.”
All of the groups submitted prototypes of their projects but the prototypes have not been returned yet.
About four years ago, Mazur had another fourth grade class that also had success in the Toshiba project and was nationally recognized. Some of those students came back to mentor this class and were also on hand to help celebrate this year’s success.