Or: Enterprise Charter School, Team Coach Rebecca Fast, 716-855-2114

With childhood obesity on the rise to near epidemic proportions—the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 15% of teens are obese—this team decided to take action. After surveying nearly 200 of their peers and finding that more than half have a sweet-tooth, they decided to develop a healthy and tasty cookie to replace the high-sugar snacks teens typically eat. To take their idea a step further, they packaged their cookie in a pyramid shaped wrapper that also encourages kids to exercise.

The students worked with a food scientist at Richís Products to develop and test several versions of their low-sugar, low-carb, low-calorie chocolate chip cookie which contains mini chocolate chips and is sweetened with fruit pectin. Their final product tested equal or superior against its high-sugar competitor—the leading chocolate chip cookie brand—among teens in the Buffalo area. The cookie is cut into the shape of a pyramidóto resemble the food pyramid—and to catch a consumer's eye. The outside wrapper calls out to teens to 'Get your body in motion,' and encourages them to do 10 jumping jacks before eating the cookie. It also contains information about the food pyramid and tips on exercise.

A panel of community leaders, scientists and experts in science education judged this idea as one of the top eight entries in the U.S. Over 1,200 students participated nationwide.

The Christopher Columbus Awards challenge teams of middle-school students to explore and discover opportunities for positive change in their communities using science and technology. The program is now in its eighth year and has attracted more than 14,000 students from diverse backgrounds all across the U.S. The program is sponsored by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation with support from the National Science Foundation and it is endorsed by the National Middle School Association. Past winners have included a group of Native American girls who built a study hall out of straw on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and a group of students from Pennsylvania who developed a video/motion sensor device for school buses that deters motorists from trying to pass illegally.

The program attracts many students who may not typically enter a science competition. More than half of the entrants are girls, and more than a fourth are from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, statistics that are higher than those of most science competitions. The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation believes the teamwork aspect and community focus draw a broader range of students to enter.

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