Tackling a real-world issue both global and local, Nolan Middle School seventh-graders dived into the tricky world of cleaning, conserving and appreciating the diminishing supply of usable water.
Four of teacher Sebrenia Rangel’s STEM Academy and honors science classes completed their months-long research on watershed issues with a public presentation Wednesday in the school cafeteria.
Working in groups, the students explained their ideas as parents and other guests wandered through the displays.
Guests included the mayor of Harker Heights, a representative from the city of Killeen public works department and officials from the Nolanville SMART Museum.
Museum staff members got in on the front end of the water study, sharing actual samples of Nolan Creek with the students to show the contaminants present in the body of water that meanders through Bell County.
The middle school students’ projects reflected an understanding of our deep dependence on and unfortunate treatment of water, as well as their creative solutions.
“Students studied human impacts on watersheds and oceans,” said Rangel. “They also studied how humans depend on water and how we affect the water short term and long term and looked up solutions so they could come up with their own solution.”
Each team built a prototype of a potential solution to reduce human impact on the water supply.
“They have been thoroughly engaged in this assignment. It went longer than I expected, but their engagement was definitely sustained. They pushed through all the way. They have been excited about tonight and the community coming.”
Seventh-grader Gracelynn Rodriguez and her team built a remote-controlled robotic trash can that picks up trash on its own.
“We made this project because our waterways are important to us,” she said. “We figured if we got the trash off the ground before it reached the water it would be more healthy and animals could live in it, and we would have fresh water.”
“I think it was really fun,” Rodriguez said. “I love my science teacher, and I’m glad she let us do this. We were able to connect with it.”
Cordelia Hernandez and her team came up with an “oil picker-upper” and a “trash scooper.”
The two prototypes were designed to remove oil from oceans and other waterways. Hernandez said she and her team enjoyed the project, the research and preparing the prototypes and information board.
Another project centered on a trashcan with a basketball hoop meant to motivate people to make use of the trash receptacle, team member Adele Etherton explained.
“We want to make the water safer for us to drink and safer for animals. It’s to make us safer in general,” she said.
“I learned the watershed is not very clean because of pollution. That’s where the basketball trashcan came in so people would want to throw away trash and make the water safer.”
Water project photo gallery: https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720325795474
