Team of students from Green Canyon High School named State Finalists in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition
A team from Green Canyon High School has been named one of 300 State Finalist teams in the 13th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, receiving a $2,500 prize package. The school’s competing team includes science teacher Chris MacMurdo, five Green Canyon students - Ethan Zhu, Andrew Pan, Daniella Lopez, Benjamin O'Brien, and Ivan Khimich, Utah State University Professor Ronald Sims, and graduate student Ethan Rico.
“Solve for Tomorrow is a national competition that challenges U.S. public school students in grades 6-12 to explore the role that science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) can play in solving some of the biggest issues in their local communities,” said a press release by the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Team.
The competition encourages students to use hands-on learning that can be applied to real-world problems. The goal is to make STEM more tangible and showcase its value beyond the classroom walls. According to the same press release, “Between 2019 and 2029, the number of STEM jobs will grow 8%, higher than non-STEM jobs. STEM skills are key to a 21st-century workforce.”
The Green Canyon team will continue in the competition and submit a lesson plan detailing how their proposed STEM project will address the identified community issue. 50 State Winners will then advance to the next phase of the competition, receiving $20,000 in technology and supplies and a video kit to help document their project in action. Then, one of the 50 State Winners will be chosen as the Sustainability Innovation Award Winner and will receive an additional $50,000 prize package of eco-conscious classroom technology.
“Our entry is a STEM project designed to grow algae to capture nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater and use it to capture carbon to make a sustainable biofuel. This project is a win-win-win experiment. This technology has the potential to have a triple effect,” MacMurdo explained. “First, by growing algae, phosphorus is taken up by the algae, keeping it from causing algae blooms downstream from a wastewater treatment facility. Second, we can capture carbon from the atmosphere to reduce carbon dioxide, which is a green-house gas, and is contributing to climate change. Third, we can produce biofuel which can be used as an energy source.”