Two teams of Fusion Program students at West Middle School were chosen as winners of the Ciena Solutions Challenge, an international challenge inviting students and teachers to design solutions to real problems and take action to build a better world. Fusion is a STEM and blended-learning focus school program in the Nampa School District.
The Ciena Solutions Challenge is based on the United Nations Sustainability Principles. The two West teams will share a $2,500 sustainability award to bring their idea to life this spring.
One of the chosen projects is a “Composting Clubhouse” to teach West how and what to compost, provide compost bins, and use that compost for a community garden or for community use. The other project is a campaign to help prevent native wildlife from being hit by cars, including information for the community and animal crossing signs.
Quack & Save
By Angelina G, Cayli B., Lexie S. and Luz E.
Big Idea: Saving Animals
Essential Question: How can we help sustain native animals that live in our communities?
Project Description: To solve the problem of animals getting hit by cars in our neighborhood, we designed a solar-powered sign that is reflective and lights up when it detects an animal to signal cars to stop. One sensor detects the animal, and another makes sure the animal got across the street. We will also create a website to display our statistics. We would have the original number of animals hit by vehicles before we put them up and the current number to show how it's affecting their population in the ecosystem.
Composting Clubhouse
By Karlee S., Jocelyne B., Gabrielle S., Emma M. and Eadyn F.
Big Idea: Minimizing Waste
Essential Question: How can students work together to help to minimize waste through composting?
Project Description: We are using the wasted food to make compost to then help plants grow better. We would like to use this as an incentive to start a garden club at our school where we could grow fresh fruits and veggies for students.