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Science trip to D.C. a successMay 04, 2010 (Tonawanda News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Four students from St. Christopher Middle School in the Town of Tonawanda were presented a 1st place trophy Monday by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu in Washington D.C. The model solar car they raced Sunday in several heats beat out similar ones built by 37 participating middle schools across the country to compete in this year's national Science Bowl competition. "It was the fastest," Junior High Science Teacher Celeste Scarozza said as she and her students readied to board a flight home from Washington Dulles airport Monday afternoon, just hours after receiving the good news. Together, Chu and First Lady Michelle Obama presented awards to winners in both the high school and middle school students who won in a slate of categories for both academics and special projects as part of the 2010 event. While Obama presided over high school academics and asked winners bonus questions, Chu himself a Nobel Prize winner, handed over the four-foot trophy to the four determined Western New Yorkers in the middle school solar car competition. Local eighth-graders who made up the local team are T.J. DellaVilla, Joe Lorenc, Joe Suhay and Brian Balthasar. Balthasar accepted the award for the St. Christopher team. He said the 10-inch car was redesigned three times over the course of the last three months leading up to the race. A new gear ratio was added to the solar vehicle -- designed after a top-fuel drag racer -- just two days before the team left to compete, on Thursday. The reason, Balthasar said, was mainly because the two previous models broke. "It was really lightweight -- and the gears we had -- we had it for power so it was the fastest," he said. Of winning the award, he said: "It was really cool. I didn't expect it." The car, which utilizes photovoltaics for power in lieu of the high octane racing fuel used in the dragsters it is modeled after, completed the 20-meter race in a show-stealing 6.21 seconds. That's three tenths of a second faster than the closest competitor. Second place went to Roosevelt Middle School in Illinois. Competitors took part in three divisions including three time trials each culminating in a double-elimination scheme. In all, more than 500 high school and middle school students took part in their own divisions and competitions throughout the Science Bowl weekend, representing 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The St. Christopher students earned their shot to compete by winning a regional competition in March. "We have won regional competitions for the last five years but this is the first time we've won the national championship," Scarozza said. St. Christopher students have competed for the national solar car title for the past four years. The Science Bowl competition was moved to Washington, D.C., from Denver two years ago, she said. The event, as competitive as it is, also provided the students with more than a chance to compete, with the four-day trip to the nation's capitol accounting for much of the overall experience. But what Scarozza termed "a giant trophy, fame and glory" sure are nice, too. "The department of energy paid for the trip to Washington. (The kids) got to go sightseeing for the day and got to meet students from around the country," she said. The car they built will also be featured in an upcoming model solar car race to be held at the Jameson Road fire Hall in Elma, Scarozza said. "They're going to overhaul the car and make changes if they let them," she said. "If not they'll build a whole new car." St. Christopher will also receive a $1,000 grant for the school's science program. A press release from the school announces the award ceremony will be streamed on the U.S. Department of Energy's Web site. A story and links to the award ceremony can be found on the home page at www.energy.gov. The event was sponsored by the Department of Energy to encourage a generation of students to apply their future talents to jobs in math and science. It is the largest academic competition of its kind. The regional solar car competition serving as a qualifier for the Science Bowl this year was organized by Canisius College's American Chemical Society. The event took place at the St. Joe's Collegiate Institute. To see more of the Tonawanda News or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tonawanda-news.com/. Copyright (c) 2010, Tonawanda News, North Tonawanda, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |