Guest Blog Post by Karin Wadsack and Todd Traen, with an update from Jenna Samora On Friday, April 28th, nearly 100 middle and high school students competed in the first Arizona KidWind Challenge wind turbine design competition. 20 teams of students came from Sinagua Middle School, Mount Elden Middle School, STAR School, Winslow High, Coconino High, and Northland Preparatory Academy. The teams brought a wind turbine they had designed and built ahead of time to test in a wind tunnel, determining whose turbine made the most electricity over a 30-second test period. The teams also competed based on their turbine design, technical presentation, technical design knowledge, and general wind energy knowledge. The teams each met with a group of judges from the wind industry, giving a presentation about their project and answering specific design and knowledge questions. The teams also competed in “instant challenges,” building sail cars, windmills for weight lifting, and playing wind energy Jeopardy. Throughout the day, students got to interact with other students from different schools and grade levels, and explain their own projects to peers, teachers, coaches, and visiting guests.Turbines at the competition included vertical and horizontal axis turbines, systems with and without gears, and some turbines for which the students had wound their own generators. Frequently heard: “This is AWESOME!” “Check out that design!” “I’m having SO MUCH fun!” “Next year we’re going to do _____!” The Wind for Schools project staff of eight was supported by an additional eight amazing volunteers from the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals and the Climate Science and Solutions professional master’s program at NAU. The Expert Judges also volunteered their day to the event. The Boys & Girls Club of Flagstaff generously donated its facilities for the day. Update from Jenna Samora on the MITe Team's trip to Nationals: The Mustang Gust Runners ended up taking 1st in the Vertical Axis Insta-Challenge, but did not score high on the original wind turbine design. After the first competition in Flagstaff, the students 3D-printed their own gears and created their own generator. However, they were unable to get the energy output that they hoped for, so they went back to using the KidWind generator. Even through their turbine was not the best design, the boys still learned a lot and had a great time! Thank you to our dedicated judges! Ross Taylor, Wind Subject Matter Expert Ken Kotalik, Primus Wind Power Jim Corning, Prometheus Renewables Daniel Snyder, Westwind Solar Inc Darrin Russell, Wind Subject Matter Expert
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Mira is a Flagstaff native who has recently moved back after being away for 14 years. She says she is happy to be back and to live and work in the community that she grew up in. Through her life experiences she has become passionate about living a zero waste lifestyle, playing in rivers, exploring canyons, dancing, practicing permaculture, getting her hands into soil, traveling anywhere often, reading anything and enjoying sunshine.
She is currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with the Flagstaff STEM Education VISTA project by working with NAU's First Year Seminar Action Learning Teams. She works alongside NAU freshmen, professors, and community organizations to foster connections between NAU and the community through social justice oriented projects. She is excited to be a part of building these community connections and projects this year. Guest Blog Post by Rose Houk It’s pretty easy to just flush the toilet and forget where our human waste goes. For most of us, it’s “out of sight, out of mind.” But on a Saturday in April, nearly 50 interested residents toured Flagstaff’s Rio de Flag Water Reclamation plant to look a little deeper into where our wastewater goes once it leaves our homes and businesses. It turns out the behind-the-scenes story is really interesting. The Rio de Flag Water Reclamation Plant is a clean, attractive building standing just beyond Sam’s Club by a trail along the Rio. Inside are bright offices, maps on the walls, and a friendly city employee, Jim Huchel, who greeted us and led the tour. Once we were all signed in, Jim gave us a firsthand look at the reclamation process from beginning to end. The plant, built in 1993, receives wastewater from the west side of Flagstaff. It first comes into the “primary clarifier,” what looks like a big black spaceship that just touched down. We peered inside to see a thick, dark, watery substance just sitting there. Unseen were the natural bacteria that were beginning to biologically alter the wastes. Some of the material in the chamber stays suspended, while other parts sink. The suspended solids are skimmed off and sent down to the city’s other water reclamation plant at Wildcat Hill. In the next step, the liquid enters a secondary chamber where it’s further clarified. It then flows indoors where it’s treated with ultraviolet light for a third step of purification. Jim poured the water into a wineglass, and it looked good enough to drink. In fact, it’s graded as Class A+, but under Arizona regulations reclaimed water can’t yet be used as potable, or drinking, water. Residents had lots of questions: Is the reclaimed water okay to put on plants? Is it safe to drink? Using reclaimed water for drinking will take getting over the “yuck” factor, said Erin Young, the city’s water conservation manager. She noted that Arizona is devising regulations that might make that a possibility. The Rio de Flag plant can treat up to four million gallons of wastewater each day. In summer, nearly all the reclaimed water is spoken for –to irrigate fields, parks, and golf courses, some residences, and for industrial uses. In winter, the city sells excess reclaimed water to the Arizona Snowbowl for snowmaking. A certain percentage also goes back into the Rio. According to the city, reclaimed water accounts for about 20 percent of Flagstaff’s total water use. Next time you see those purple pipes and signs indicating reclaimed water, it will have a whole new meaning. A Big STEM City Thank You to Rose Houk for this post! And to Jim Huchel and Erin Young of the City of Flagstaff for this engaging and educational tour!
The Neighborhood Sustainability Grant was created to inspire creative projects that enhance community sustainability efforts. The grant seeks to foster community partnerships that promote sustainable and healthy lifestyles through local food production and educate the greater community about issues regarding water, energy and transportation. The Neighborhood Sustainability Grant is funded through the Environmental Management Fee fund. Annual funding for the grant is subject to availability and is determined according to Sustainability priority areas.
Complete applications must be submitted by the first business day of each quarter (January, April, July, October) in order to be considered during the next Sustainability Commission meeting (second Wednesday of the month).
For more information and to apply, go to: http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/Albertsgrant Gu’wah’tze
Growing up around places of cultural importance it was synonymous with respecting the land, air and water around me. Cultural values of respect have been the main driver in how I have gone through my day to day life and I firmly believe that how I got to this point in life. I have had the opportunity to attend various programs which had influential leaders. Learning about humbleness I incorporate that into my life as much as I can. But altogether I can simply say I have learned a lot from my grandfathers. I grew up and attended school for the majority of my life within the Pueblo of Laguna but seeking a challenge my family was supportive and allowed me to attend school in Albuquerque, N.M. which had Advanced Placement classes I desired. Being involved with the school paper the facilitator encouraged me to apply to NAU. My academic endeavors were always supported by my family and encouraged me to attend the university. While attending NAU I was involved with Connecting Higher Education Indigenously and soon became part of the club’s leadership position. I have gained vast amounts of knowledge with the professors within the Applied Indigenous Studies and do wish to make an impact within my community in the future. During my time here I have met the love of my life and married last year. My wife being a VISTA in the past, encouraged me to see if there was a place for me in the AmeriCorps family. Which brings us to now where I have begun to know a great family in the Arizona Historical Society. I am really excited to work with AHS and connecting places of importance to STEM education and engaging the Flagstaff community. I had worked as a line cook for five years prior to this VISTA position but still consider cooking a passion of mine. Guest Blog Post by Vicki Anderson (STEM VISTA Member) and Danitza Hill (Lead Science Teacher at Leupp) Leupp Public School had their Winter Family STEM Night on December 1st from 5:30-7:00 pm. About 150 participants used STEM Activity Passports to log in their hands-on activities at 20 stations. The stations were run by teachers, students, and community groups from both Leupp and Flagstaff. Top-notch hands-on STEM activities for the Leupp students and parents were provided by: NAU Tribal Environmental Education Outreach Program (EEOP), NAU NASA Space Grant group, American Indian Mobile Education Resource (AIMER), NAU Cohort Education students, W.L. Gore engineers, The Wonder Factory, NAU Americorp VISTA STEM Education Project Volunteers, and the Leupp Public School teachers, support staff, and PTO. Welcome to STEM Night, and The Wonder Factory shares activities with Leupp families STEM activities were organized by content areas of Engineering, General Science, Astronomy, Geology, Forestry, Math, Technology and STEM integration into Navajo Culture. Some of the many exciting challenges included building catapults, making 3D pasta dinosaurs, designing and testing MAKEY-MAKEYS, making snowflake prototypes with a 3D Printer brought by W.L. Gore, developing molecular gastronomic treats (s’mores), making constellation telescopes, designing, making and testing their aluminum boat buoyancy, and playing math games and measuring activities. This Leupp Public School STEM Night was a wonderful collaboration with the community and partners in Leupp and Flagstaff. This fun exposure to STEM educational activities was a good motivator for students to want to become future engineers, scientists, mathematicians and technologists. A special thank you goes to Principal Ryan Chee and Danitza Hill (Lead Science Teacher) and the LEUPP staff and the Leupp and Flagstaff community partners for their support in providing these STEM enrichment educational opportunities! Go STEM!
Ruby Hammond, a doctoral graduate student with Tad Theimer's lab at Northern Arizona University, recently presented on Flagstaff birds to Killip Elementary School's after school Habitat Class. The class, led by teacher Mable Wauneka-Goodwin and volunteer Moses Aruguete, is building a bird-friendly habitat in the school's Luna Courtyard. The fourteen 2nd and 3rd graders already knew a lot of information about both birds and bats, and had many bird stories to share with Ruby! They are all enthusiastic about creating better habitat for birds near Killip and learned more about the local birds and their food and nesting preferences from Ruby's presentation. Ruby also taught the students some good tricks for identifying birds. Now the students (and you) can distinguish between a raven and a crow!
Ruby's "Urban birds in Flagstaff" presentation and information on nesting preferences is now located on the STEM City Resource page. Moses Aruguete also provided information on building nesting shelves for Robins and Cardinals on this same page. Killip's Habitat Class hopes you will help feed and house the birds this winter! My name is Megan Carmel and I am working as an AmeriCorps VISTA member this year with the Flagstaff Area National Monuments (National Park Service). My official title is Public Outreach and STEM Education Liaison. I am originally from Columbus, Ohio and have always been fascinated by weather and climate. I received my Bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University in Environmental Geography, then came to Flagstaff and received my Master’s in Climate Science and Solutions at Northern Arizona University.
Right now, I am developing a service learning project for Summit High School and the Teenage Parent Program (TAPP). I will be working with TAPP teacher Michele Craig, high school science teacher Miguel Fernandez, and middle school science teacher Kim Howell, along with their roughly 40 students. The program is focused on climate change and cultural resources, and how climate change will affect the preservation and monitoring of ancient cultural structures into the future. Over the past several months, I have been able to work closely with National Park Service (NPS) archeologists Erin Gearty and Ian Hough to develop this program. In August, I began a month out in the field with the archeologists and was able to assist in preservation and monitoring work of prehistoric cultural sites at Walnut Canyon, Wupatki, and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monuments. This training, along with my classroom program training with my mentor, Steven Rossi, has been instrumental in preparing me for the development of this service learning project. Starting in February, I will be giving three classroom programs at Summit High School for two classrooms, a middle school science class and a high school science class, along with the students in the TAPP. The first program will focus on climate change in general and in the Flagstaff area. The second will focus on the NPS and climate change. The third will focus on archeology, cultural resources, and climate change and will be an introduction to the service learning fieldwork portion of the program. The service learning project will take place in the spring out at Wupatki National Monument. Each class will get to come out to the monument twice for field work and reflection. Students will experiment with different types of mortar and determine which sand/clay compositions and binders will stand up best to current weather conditions and changing weather patterns in the future. Upon completion of the project, students will creatively present their work to NPS staff and other members of the Flagstaff area community.
This project and the data collected by the students will be used directly by NPS archeologists in helping them determine which mortars will work best for their work in preserving ancient pueblos. In turn, the students will gain a sense of ownership over their work, be able to reflect on the work that they did, understand how it relates to them personally, and experience what it’s like to work in a real-world, scientific setting. My goal is to show students the unique opportunities available to them when considering their career paths, experience a place-based service learning project in our parks, and simply get them outdoors enjoying their natural and cultural environment. I’m so excited to work with Summit High School and TAPP, and can’t wait to see this program unfold. Kinney Construction Services (KCS) is the most recent business to join the Scientists in the Classroom program, founded by Jillian Worssam, at Sinagua Middle School. KCS is working with one of Gretchen Downey's 8th grade MITe (Middle School Institute of Technology and Engineering) classes, and leading them through the process of commercial construction on an undeveloped site. The first lesson focused on the many different people and careers involved in the construction business, including many engineering roles. KCS introduced an authentic case study that the students will follow through the year, as they continues their monthly outreach with the class. In the spring the students will likely visit the site on a culminating field trip. These highly-engaged students received stress ball construction helmets for answering questions on different jobs from initially surveying a site, designing the layout of the buildings for a site, and discussing how to make the project as energy-efficient and sustainable as possible. KCS is committed to sustainable construction and was the commercial general contractor on NAU's International Pavillion. NAU, KCS and RSP Architects won the prestigious President's Award for Special Achievement, "Best of Show", as well as the coveted Crescordia Award at Arizona Forward's Environmental Excellence Awards. This new building produces as much energy as it uses onsite and is on track to be Arizona's first “Net Zero” energy higher-education facility. It was recognized as a "Building of the Future" and as one of the greenest buildings in the nation. And it is now used to teach a new generation of future citizens! You can see a short video and read more about the building and award in this article by AZ Central, and in the KCS Press Release. KCS is also connecting their expertise in building for the future with the students involvement in the Future City program. The 8th grade MITe students are competing in this design-and-build competition for the 3rd year. Thank you to KCS for joining the Scientists in the Classroom program!
The Scientists in the Classroom program has over twenty business, agency, and non-profit partners that meet monthly with students in a class they are partnered with at Sinagua Middle School. If you are interested in learning more about this program designed to engage students in real-world STEM applications, please contact the STEM Coordinator. Guest post by Lisa Winters, formerly of Arizona Game and Fish, and presently a STEM VISTA Member with the Grand Canyon Trust The best ten days of the year, the Flagstaff Festival of Science, is in full swing. And this year, we had the first BioBlitz at Francis Short Pond! Organized by Rocky Mountain Research Station, Willow Bend Environmental Education Center, and Friends of the Rio de Flag, the BioBlitz was an opportunity for students, teachers, and the general public to work in collaboration with biologists, naturalists, and other scientists to complete a biological inventory of the plants, animals, and organisms that live in or near the pond. Thanks to Lisa Winters, left, of Grand Canyon Trust, and Zack Zdinak, right, of Life Drawing and Education Stations were set up around the pond that collected information about water quality, aquatic insects, birds, plants, and fish. Over 260 students from Marshall Elementary, Flagstaff Junior Academy, and Mount Elden Middle School measured the temperature and dissolved oxygen of the water, used microscopes to identify the aquatic invertebrates they caught, wandered the pond in search of common plants, used binoculars to spot ducks and red-winged blackbirds, fished for rainbow trout, and then pulled together what they learned by constructing a life cycle diagram of an organism of their choice. In the afternoon, many community members got the same chance to explore this unique ecosystem in their backyard while contributing to the survey data collection. Photos show Alice patiently fishing, the excitement of the catch, and measuring for data prior to release! Additional partners of the event include the City of Flagstaff Sustainability Section, The Museum of Northern Arizona, Grand Canyon Trust, local illustrator Zack Zdinak, and more! The event was made possible through a generous grant from the National Geographic Education Foundation and the AZ Game and Fish Heritage Grant. Thank you all for the great contributions to citizen science and education in Flagstaff!
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