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OREM — Four elementary students at Parkside Elementary School in Orem created a winning experiment proposal and now have the opportunity to work with NASA engineers to launch the experiment into existence.
Sixth grade students Tanner Hawkes, William O'Neill, Thurl Brown and Drake Mayo proposed an experiment that would measure the extent to which pollution in the ozone layer affects solar energy.
The students submitted their proposal to the NASA TechRise Student Challenge and were one of 60 teams in the nation selected to build their experiments. The contest was open to grades 6-12 throughout the U.S. and the Parkside students were the only winning team from Utah.
"NASA's missions of tomorrow are sparked by the accomplishments of the Artemis Generation today in classrooms across America," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a press release. "Through opportunities like the TechRise Student Challenge, young people are deepening their passion in science and technology, preparing to be the future innovators and pioneers who help humanity soar to new heights and unlock more secrets of the universe."
The Parkside student team submitted its proposal in October 2022 and was selected in January. The students received a box of parts from NASA and now they meet every Wednesday on Zoom with a team of NASA engineers to help guide them as they build the experiment. Tanner said the team received $1,500 to build the project.
In May, the team gets to join all of the other selected teams in a showcase to present the completed experiments.
"It's a pretty long project. First we have to figure out what all the parts and pieces of the project do, and then we have to assemble our payload, and then we will send it off into the ozone layer," William said.
This summer, their experiment — contained inside a clear 10-inch long rectangle box about 4 inches wide — and all of the other experiments will be loaded onto a NASA-sponsored high-altitude balloon and launched into the atmosphere for its four-hour flight out of Tucson, Arizona.
A camera will film the flight, solar panels will collect solar energy and a micro SD chip will record the data gathered by the payload. With the data the team can analyze whether particulates in the atmosphere interfere with solar energy collection.
Because the sixth grade students had been learning about the greenhouse effect and carbon dioxide emissions, they wanted to focus their project on similar ideas of air pollution and solar energy.
"I think it's a really, really good opportunity. I'm so happy that we're going to be doing a project for NASA," William said. He said he feels very lucky the team gets to do this project and that it will help them with jobs, programs and more in the future.
"It's helpful what NASA is doing to help us recognize that we want to be good and learn these special things," William added.
Rachel Grindstaff is the team's mentor and teacher. As a STEAM Specialist and Parkside Elementary School computer teacher, she focuses on hands-on science, technology and engineering learning in her classroom.
Grindstaff said she is so proud of her boys. "I did a little dance when we got the package."
Grindstaff was actually a little shocked when they got selected, because it's not every day sixth grade students get an opportunity like this. The four boys represent one of only two sixth grade teams that were selected.
"It's super exciting," Grindstaff said. "One of the best things about this is, this is real life application. We actually get to start an experiment, build it from scratch —from beginning to end — and see the whole thing carried out. It's really cool."
Grindstaff is just as much a part of the boys' team as she teaches them coding skills and helps them with problem-solving and management of their project.
"They all have great qualities of creative thinking, persevering, problem solving, and working hard and I love watching them work," Grindstaff said.
"Without her, we'd be lost," Thurl said.
The boys are very excited about accomplishing such a feat together as friends and look forward to learning more throughout the experience.
The students are learning circuitry and coding to build and run this project, but they also have individual interests of archaeology, game graphics design and physics. In 2022, Thurl won a district coding competition for Parkside Elementary and Tanner represented the school in a regional STEM Fair held at BYU.
The boys excitedly explained all the little pieces that will go into their experiment and their curiosity for the world was prevalent during their interview.
"The curiosity of the human mind is always a buzz. We're always trying to find new things to do, new and exciting things," Thurl said.
Tanner pointed out how if you only have success your whole life, you won't actually do well because you won't know how to handle failure. Thurl agreed and said failure is something that shouldn't be looked down upon, but instead should be welcomed.
"With every failure, you learn something new. And if something repeats, you eventually try and try until you can succeed in the end," Thurl said.
"When Thurl grows up, that's going to be one of the famous quotes," William joked in response.
Although finishing this experiment will be a challenge, the boys are ready to take on the world — and outer space.
"Our project with solar energy, not only could it help in space by gathering energy for an emergency, it could help just here — making every day life easier," Thurl said.
