Schools

Clinton River Experiment Could be Worth $100,000 for Seneca Students

Selected as finalists in Samsung's Solve for Tomorrow education competition, Seneca Middle School students are hoping their creativity in studying the Clinton River will spell big bucks for their school's programs.

students have uncovered the dirt on the Clinton River and to an international corporation, that dirt might just be worth $100,000.

In August 2011, Samsung launched Solve for Tomorrow, a $1 million education contest open to U.S. teachers and students at the middle and high school levels.

Seneca teacher Brian Hadfield took a chance and entered.

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A few months later, he received word that Seneca, out of some 1,300 entries, had been selected as one of 25 finalists in the contest.

“I was thrilled to be one of those 25 people selected,” Hadfield said. “I was astonished, too. One day a box arrived at school and I wondered what for. I opened it and there was a laptop, camcorder and an Adobe suite of software. At first I couldn’t remember what it was for, then I was thrilled.”

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All finalists received a video creation kit, with instructions to produce and submit creative videos that explore the contest’s challenge: To show how science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) can help the environment in your community.

From the time they became finalists to the Jan. 3 submission deadline, Hadfield, fellow teachers Sharon Moats and Crystal Valls, and a handful of seventh grade students had only a few weeks to organize and complete their project.

“This project was basically done around us testing the Clinton River for different signs of if the water is good enough for swimming and stuff like that,” said Frank Alcini, a seventh grade participant. “My group in particular tested the chemical properties of the river. Seneca Middle School also tested the physical properties and the macroinvertebrate identification.”

In addition to learning the math and science needed to analyze their findings, students also saw themselves spending a Saturday knee deep in the Clinton River.

“When we go into the water, we’re wearing waders and have a net,” said Cailyn Penner, a student participant. “You go into the water and dig at the bottom of the river to get little bugs. You have a key and you sort them into categories and you figure out which bug is which and a chart shows the sensitivity of the water.”

While other seventh graders may learn to collect and analyze the data in their textbooks, project participants like Penner and Alcini say they’ve learned more with this hands-on experiment than through any chapter of their science books.

“I think the advantage of this project is just its practical, real-world application,” Hadfield said. “You are out in the field being a scientist, collecting scientific data and using math and technology to analyze and report on those findings.”

Even if Seneca doesn’t receive one of the $100,000 Samsung grants, Hadfield said he believes the project will have been a fun and interesting experience for all.

“We’re giving them the opportunity to see how they can actually do things with the curriculum they’ve been learning all these years, and maybe it will motivate them and perhaps inspire them to see the importance in the application of this in what we teach,” Hadfield said. “You never know what will inspire someone to take it further and actually pursue a career in science.”

Should Seneca’s video coverage of the project be selected as one of the top 12 entries received, it will be posted online for public voting and be reviewed by a panel of judges.

The online votes and those submitted by the judges will then narrow the field to the top five schools.

The top 12 schools will win technology grants worth at least $7,000, while five of those will also win $100,000 technology grants and be honored at an awards ceremony.


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