Sensitisation Workshop 2014

1. Sensitisation Workshop 2014

2. Participating Countries • Antigua • Barbados • Belize • Dominica • St. Lucia • Guyana • Tampa (Hillsborough County) • Trinidad & Tobago

3. Overview Target • Secondary school students. Challenge • Identify a challenge facing your school or community, and using science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), develop effective, innovative and sustainable solutionsto the challenge identified.

4. Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world through observation and experimentation.

5. The application of scientific knowledge, processes and devices for practical purposes.

6. The utilization of concepts in science, mathematics and technology to design and build structures, machines, materials, processes, systems and devices.

7. The study of measurements, properties and relationships using numbers and symbols.

8. The integrated study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics designed to encourage problem-solving through discovery.

9. Meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the needs of future ones, so that society can co-exist in continuous harmony.

10. The 5 Pillars of Sustainability SUSTAINABILITY Environment Implies that non-renewable and other natural resources are not depleted nor destroyed for short-term improvements. McConville and Mihelcic, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(7):937-948, 2007

11. The 5 Pillars of Sustainability SUSTAINABILITY Environment Economic Implies that sufficient local resources and capacity exist to continue the project in the absence of outside resources. McConville and Mihelcic, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(7):937-948, 2007

12. The 5 Pillars of Sustainability SUSTAINABILITY Community Participation Environment Economic Process which fosters empowerment and ownership within members of the community through direct participation in decision-making. McConville and Mihelcic, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(7):937-948, 2007

13. The 5 Pillars of Sustainability SUSTAINABILITY Community Participation Political Cohesion Environment Economic Involves increasing the alignment of development projects with local priorities. McConville and Mihelcic, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(7):937-948, 2007

14. The 5 Pillars of Sustainability SUSTAINABILITY Community Participation Political Cohesion Socio -Cultural Respect Environment Economic Implies that the project is socially acceptable because it is built on an understanding of local traditions and core values. McConville and Mihelcic, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(7):937-948, 2007

15. The 5 Pillars of Sustainability SUSTAINABILITY Community Participation Political Cohesion Socio- Cultural Respect Environment Economic Social McConville and Mihelcic, Environmental Engineering Science, 24(7):937-948, 2007

16. Flow Chart High Schools: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, St. Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago, Tampa (Hillsborough County) National Competition Ambassador Programme to Florida (Museum of Science & Industry, Kennedy Space Center, Disney’s EPCOT Center)

17. The national winner and teacher who endorsed the project from each Challenge Country will participate in a 7-day trip to Florida Ambassador Programme Kennedy Space Center Lunch with an astronaut & tour Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) Hurricane Simulator, Idea Zone, Bank of America Butterfly Garden Disney EPCOT Center Living with the Land Tour; Imagination EXPO • University of South Florida • Engineering Education; Patel School of Global Sustainability

18. Prizes • Learning Materials • An all-expenses-paid STEM Ambassadors Programme for student team leader + supervising teacher • Challenge Shields & Specialty Certificates

19. Who can Enter? All private or public secondary educational institutions recognised by the national Ministry of Education. • Each institution may be represented by a student, or group of students who are: • full time students at the institution, • legal residents • home schooled students or those students whose School is not entering the Competition Each institution may enter multiple groups. A student can only be entered in one project.

20. Online Application • This will consist of an abstract and design proposal: • Abstract – This should be 250 words in length and includes the name of the school, the title and description of the project. • Design Proposal – This is due 2 weeks after submission of the abstract and should be 6-12 pages in length.

21. Design Proposal • There are 10 compulsory components: • Title page • Problem Statement and Significance of Problem • Objectives of the Project • Approach to Proposed Solution • The Competition • Resources Needed • Timetable • Use of STEM • Community Involvement and Community Impact • References

22. Project Categories • Class A – Biology, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences • Class B – Engineering, Physical Sciences and Computer Science • Entrants will be asked to indicate the category in which they would like their project to be judged.

23. Presentation • Oral Presentation: • ‘Elevator Pitch’ – Entrants will be given 2 minutes to present their project • Power point presentation - 2/3 slides • Online Voting: • There will be a ‘People’s Choice’ Award • These points will not contribute to final points for projects

24. Judging Criteria • Relevance to Sustainable Communities • Creativity and Innovation • Content and Knowledge of Project • Project Plan and Design • Difficulty of project • STEM Linkage • Methods of Investigation • Presentation • Answering Questions • Public or Community Engagement

25. Entry Example Topics • Rain gardens for storm water management. • Mobile App for energy conservation in buildings. • Solar/wind energy systems for fans that cool classrooms. • Cafeteria waste separation & composting for school garden. Agriculture Engineering Biology Math Chemistry Information technology Integrated science Geography Physics Technical Drawing Lots of linkages to CXC curricula

26. Mentors • Where possible a mentor will • Provide feedback on ideas • Answer questions related to ideas • Review competition materials • Share expertise & experiences. • Mentors may be online or in person • Mentors will be matched to teams based on projects, location etc.. through the website

27. Project Example 1Title: DRINKING CHAMP The Challenge We want to reduce the abundance of plastic used and seen on my high school compound by eliminating disposable plastic water bottles, encouraging students and staff to use reusable bottles, and developing new ways to provide safe drinking water at my school.

28. Investigative Methods Exact questions that I will put on my bottled water use survey. • Do you buy bottled water? • How many bottles do buy on average per day? • How much do you spend per week on bottled water? • Would you prefer to have free tap water more readily available than buying bottled water? • Do you support efforts to introduce water fountains on campus to help the environment and cut your spending? • Surveys • Cost Analysis • Online searches

29. Some facts about bottled water Taken from Pacific Institute (2006) “Bottled Water and Energy A Pacific Institute Fact Sheet” Research Findings • Roughly 3.4 MJ of energy makes a typical 1 L plastic bottle. • Manufacturing a ton of PET produces around 3 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas. • 3 L of water needed to make 1 L of bottled water. • Total amount of energy required for every bottle is equivalent, on average, to filling a plastic bottle ¼ full with oil.

30. Percentage of persons at School X who would drink fountain water. Total sample size n = 230. Research Findings

31. The Solution It would take less than two school terms to cover the costs of 8 fountains if everyone who bought bottled water donated their bottled water money to the fountain fund instead. Water fountain with refillable station for bottles. Image taken from elkayusa.com.

32. The Solution

33. Link to STEM

34. Project Example 2Title: ELIMINATING FLOODING IN OUR SCHOOL YARD The Challenge Our school compound has little green space as the entire yard is covered with concrete. When it rains the water runs off our property and floods the street below, making it difficult for us to access the school. We envision a series of projects that will add beneficial green space to our school yard and provide live laboratories for our classes, while simultaneously reducing the amount of storm water that leaves our yard.

35. Observations

36. Design Solution KEY – Rain Barrel RG – Rain Garden BG – Butterfly Garden 250 m

37. The Solution Harvest rainwater

38. The Solution Pervious Walkways

39. The Solution Rain Garden

40. Link to STEM

41. Project Example 3Title: RELIABLE ELECTRICITY FOR OUR VILLAGE TheChallenge Our school and its surrounding community do not have reliable electricity. The electricity is sometimes off for more than 12 hours. At school we often need to recharge the batteries of our two laptops or our cell phones when the electricity supply is off. Our farmers and fishermen have the same problem. There are several abandoned vehicles in our village. Our proposal is to remove the alternators and batteries from these vehicles and use them to generate and store electricity. To do this we would make wind turbines by designing our own blades and attaching them to the alternators. We will use the old batteries to store the electricity produced, and we will design a circuit to convert the DC power from the battery to 110 VAC.

42. Investigative Methods • At the school fair, we will get community participation by asking people to donate parts from their abandoned vehicles, and we will also collect donations for the purchase of the components for the DC-AC converters • We will study how: an alternator generates electricity, simple electric circuits, and we will design our DC-AC converter circuits with help from our teacher and examples we see on the Internet.

43. The Solution Alternator Sample Circuit for DC-AC conversion Our turbine blades will be made of wood and will be shaped similar to those on large industrial wind power systems. The structure that supports the windmill will also be made from wood Battery Turbine blade design

44. Expected Results • After we make the first prototype we will recruit other school friends to help us build several of these wind turbines for our community. The expected results are: • Electricity at all times during the day in school to keep our computers running • Electricity at night in some homes so we can do our homework with high quality light • Electricity for a street light a busy street intersection in our village • Happy farmers who can keep their cell phones charged at all times to check price fluctuations for their crops and order supplies.

45. Link to STEM

46. AcknowledgmentsHypothetical project scenarios developed by Dr. Maya Trotz, Dr. Sheena FrancisMs. Anastasia DeonarinesinghProf. Cardinal Warde

47. Thank You Sagicor Financial Corporation Caribbean Science Foundation Caribbean Examinations Council More Information info@sagicorvisionaries.com http://caribbeanscience.org https://www.facebook.com/sagicorvisionaries http://www.sagicorvisionaries.com http://www.youtube.com/sagicorvisionaries