When the eight winning teams in this year's Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association ExploraVision Awards program arrived in Washington, DC, last week to be recognized for their achievements, they never imagined it would coincide with the nation paying tribute to former president Ronald Reagan, who died on June 5.
Hideo Ito, chairman and CEO of Toshiba
America, Inc., (second from left) talks with
Lindsey Bauer, Nathan Gusdorf, and Hody
Nemes. All are students at the John
Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri. |
Students were recognized at various ExploraVision events that included congressional visits, sightseeing tours, media interviews, a press conference, and an awards banquet.
Hideo Ito, chairman and CEO of Toshiba America, Inc., was one of several speakers at the awards banquet held Friday at the Grand Hyatt Washington hotel. Ito observed that president Reagan often spoke about the future of America and how it would make the world a better place. "It is our young people and their bright ideas that will lead the way," he said.
Students were formally recognized at the awards banquet for envisioning futuristic technologies. Eighth graders Lindsey Bauer, Nathan Gusdorf, and Hody Nemes from the John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri envisioned "E. Colocator Gloves." These special gloves alert meat handlers to harmful bacteria by changing color.
NSTA and Toshiba officials present awards to
the winning team from Holmes Elementary
School in San Diego, California. |
The team envisioned the gloves after reading an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch in October 2003 titled "E. Coli Outbreak Strikes Like Lightning." The team wanted to develop a solution to the stop the health problem before tainted meat got into the food chain.
Kyle Plum and his teammates, third graders from Holmes Elementary School in San Diego, California, envisioned a technology called "The Sleep Doctor," a device that can stop nightmares. "The Sleep Doctor" measures heart rate, perspiration, muscle tension, and eye movement. When it senses a nightmare is taking place, the device activates the sleeper's senses with soothing sounds and smells to ward off the nightmare.
The team came up with the idea after learning that Plum's younger brother, Josh, had nightmares. Plum explained that his brother would wake up everyone in the house with his screaming when he had bad dreams. Kyle and his teammates, Olivia Litsey and Courtney Dunar, envisioned "The Sleep Doctor" so that the Plum family could get a good night sleep.
The winning team from Rogers Park
Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska -
Jon DermanHarris, David Smith, Sophie
Wiepking-Brown, and Lillian Tatka - present
their project "Ossific Gel: Bone Repair of the
Future" at the Science Showcase. |
When David Smith, a student at Rogers Park Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska, broke his collarbone playing football, he inspired his sixth grade teammates to create "Ossific Gel: Bone Repair of the Future." This breakthrough treatment uses a non-toxic magnetic gel administered to the surface of a broken bone with a syringe. The gel hardens and magnets pull the bone fragments back together into their normal position under the direction of a physician. Any excess gel dissolves into the bloodstream.
Each student received a plaque for his or her innovative work at the banquet. Students on the first-place teams were awarded a $10,000 US savings bond. Each second-place winner received a $5,000 savings bond.
"What you have accomplished is remarkable. What you have learned will last you a lifetime," said Anne Tweed, NSTA's president.
To learn more about the ExploraVision program, call 1-800-EXPLOR-9, or refer to www.exploravision.org. The deadline to submit entries for next year's program is February 2005.