Embargoed until 11:00 PM EST Contact: Linda Topoleski, 412-939-3698
June 20, 2002 or Rachel Handel, 412-281-2345 See photos at www.christophercolumbusawards.com
Middle School Students Take
First Place in Bayer/NSF Award
by Putting the Brakes on
Runaway Shopping Carts
Other
Winners Tackle Issues Ranging from Wheelchair Accidents and Infant Deaths in
Cars
to a Serious Environmental Threat to Lakes
Across the Country
Walt Disney WorldÒ, Orlando, FL—June 21, 2002—Some of the nation’s most innovative middle
school students were
named Columbus Foundation Community Grant and Bayer/National Science Foundation
Award winners today for their ideas to solve important community issues,
including: a braking system to prevent runaway shopping carts, a braking system
to slow wheelchairs on slopes, a baby beeper to prevent children from being
left in cars, and an environmental action plan to stop the spread of the
Eurasion water milfoil an ‘aquatic exotic’ which is choking lakes in 45 states
across the U.S.
The Bayer/NSF Award
is a nationwide, leading-edge program that challenges middle school students to
use science and technology to solve a community problem.
"This competition is refreshing—it shows that kids still
believe they can change the world," said Dr. William Warren, President of
Sciperio, Inc., and a former research scientist with the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
This year’s winners
tackled issues both urgent and ubiquitous, developing solutions that could
improve the lives of their peers and others in communities across the country
and around the world:
|
$25,000 COLUMBUS FOUNDATION COMMUNITY GRANT—Milfoil Masters,
Minocqua, WI—
The Eurasion Water Milfoil is a fast-growing weed that is
choking lakes all across the country, stunting tourism, fishing and boating,
and threatening lake ecology. A group of students from Minocqua-Hazelhurst and
Lake Tomahawk Elementary School have taken action with a weevil that feeds on the
milfoil to keep its growth in check, and an education program for boaters and
residents to help prevent the spread of the milfoil which sticks to boats and
fishing lines and moves from lake to lake. The team includes eighth-grader
Janell Zajicek and seventh-graders Maree Stewart and Luke Voellinger, and their
coach, teacher Lisa Ahlers. |  |
|
FIRST PLACE—The Stopping Cart, Brandon, MS—Runaway
shopping carts are a common site at most grocery and large chain stores.
Brandon Middle School seventh-graders Patricia Rincon, Lauren Rushing, Joel
Anderson, Patrick Hall, and their coach, teacher Joe Ann Clark, aim to change
that with their new invention: a set of brakes. The brakes are engaged at the
handle of the cart, and operate much like the handle of a self-propelled lawn
mower. Greg Hale, Vice President of Ride and Show Engineering at
Walt Disney World, and one of the Bayer/NSF Award judges, called their design
"elegant engineering," and said the invention was "ready to go." |  |
The 'Stopping Cart' team interviewed NASA scientists,
engineers and chain store managers to devise their solution. Officials at a
national chain store told the students that they pay an average of $5,000 per
store nationwide in claims related to shopping cart damage to cars in their parking
lots.
|
SECOND
PLACE—Pendulum Braking System for Wheelchairs, North Wales, PA—People in
wheelchairs, and those pushing them, often have difficulty controlling the
speed of a chair when going down ramps and sloped areas. Along with their
coach, teacher Joan Hurd, the team of sixth-graders from Gwyn-Nor Elementary
School, Douglas Farrar, Stephen Jordan, Sanjay Misra and Reece Thompson,
combined trigonometry concepts and mechanical devices to create a pendulum
braking system that applies pressure to the back wheels based on the grade of
the slope. |  |
“These kids really knew their trigonometry which is very
surprising for sixth grade,” said Renee Wilkerson Anderson, a mathematics teacher
at Grant High School in Portland, OR, and a Bayer/NSF Award judge.
|
THIRD PLACE—Baby Beeper, Las Vegas, NV—In 2001,
the Las Vegas Fire Department rescued over 600 babies from hot cars. Three of
these cases resulted in deaths. Seventh-graders Kelsey Hand, Rachelle Taylor
and Athena Pisanello, and their coach, teacher Steve Loyd, decided to take
action to prevent any more serious injuries. Their invention—a baby beeper that
transmits a signal from a child car seat to the driver’s keychain if a child
has been left behind in a car. |  |
The Bayer/NSF Award
is designed to attract all kinds of kids to science, including those from
groups traditionally less likely to participate. Sixty percent of Bayer/NSF
Award entrants are girls and nearly
30 percent are
minorities.
More than 2,500 students from across the U.S. entered the
Bayer/NSF Award, now in its sixth year.
Ten finalist teams won a trip to Walt Disney World where
they participated in the Christopher Columbus Academy, a unique educational experience in which the students learn
about science and technology by working side-by-side with engineers, scientists
and other innovators at Walt Disney World and NASA.
First, second and
third place teams received $5,000, $3,000 and $1,000 per person in U.S. Savings
Bonds. One team
received the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant, as seed money to
bring its idea to life.
The National
Championship competition included written and oral presentations and interviews
with a distinguished panel of judges, including: Steve Culbertson, President
and CEO of Youth Service America; Greg Hale, VP, Design and Engineering and
Regulatory Compliance for Walt Disney World; Dr. James Youniss, Director of the
Life Cycle Institute at the Catholic University of America; Dr. William Warren,
President of Sciperio, Inc., and a former research scientist with the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); and Renee Wilkerson Anderson, a
mathematics teacher at Grant High School in Portland, OR.
An Opportunity Open to All Middle School Students
By linking science
and community service, the Bayer/NSF Award provides students a leading-edge
educational experience. The students use their curiosity, creativity and
critical thinking skills, applying talents ranging from art and writing to
science and math.
"Most competitions
are geared to the top 5% students," says Sue Swaim of the National Middle
School Association. "The Bayer/NSF Award is a wonderful experience for students
at all levels."
Sponsors
For the sixth year,
Bayer Corporation, the National Science Foundation and the Christopher Columbus
Fellowship Foundation have formed a partnership to sponsor the Bayer/NSF Award,
which features the Columbus Foundation Community Grant.
Bayer Corporation is a $10 billion company best known for its flagship
product, Bayer Asprin. Bayer Corporation produces a broad range of healthcare,
life science and chemical products that help diagnose and treat diseases,
purify water, preserve local landmarks, protect crops, advance automobile
safety and durability and improve people’s lives. The Bayer/NSF Award is part
of Bayer’s Making Science Make Sense program, an initiative advancing science
literacy across the United States through hands-on, inquiry-based science
learning, employee volunteerism and public education.
The National Science
Foundation (NSF) is an
independent U.S. government agency responsible for promoting science and
engineering through programs that invest more than $4.4 billion per year in
almost 20,000 research and education projects in science and engineering. The
mission of the NSF is to “promote the progress of science; to advance the
national health, prosperity and welfare; and to secure the national defense.”
For more information
visit our website at www.christophercolumbusawards.com
or call 1-800-291-6020.