Team Dead Weight, with coach Hector Ibarra, were interviewed by a U.N. Radio reporter during United Nations International Youth Day. Photo by Andrew H. Walker

They may attend middle school in West Branch, Iowa, but the members of Team Dead Weight know they have achieved something few adults can claim: They have affected national environmental policy. Due to their efforts, on August 26, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would begin the rulemaking process for a possible ban on lead wheel weights, which contribute to environmental lead contamination.

“I knew the project would go far, but not just how far. We knew if we kept pushing, we would see results,” says team member Justin Roth. What began as an extracurricular science club turned into a lot more as Roth, Jathan Kron, and Brennan Nelson learned more about the hazardous material being deposited daily on roads across the United States. Hector Ibarra, a science teacher at West Branch Middle School and team advisor-mentor, has worked with several student groups tackling a variety of environmental issues over the years, but this may be the first to result in potential national legislation. Their efforts also earned them first place in the inaugural Siemens’ We Can Change the World Challenge student competition and a chance to present their project as part of the United Nations International Youth Day on August 12.

Team Dead Weight, with coach Hector Ibarra, were interviewed by a U.N. Radio reporter during United Nations International Youth Day. Photo by Andrew H. Walker

Ibarra has been using contests similar to the We Can Change the World Challenge since 1993 with the school science club, Learning Without Limits. His students have tackled issues ranging from mercury in thermometers to used oil filters. “The biggest thing is coming up with a community issue that needs to be identified. That’s easier than people think,” he says. “Teachers have to start with background research; ask those five questions (who, what, why, when, and how). That’s what I do.”

Partnerships with other teachers, legislators, and community contacts are “a vital part” of his team’s success, according to Ibarra. As a teacher, he finds it rewarding to get “the kids involved, showing them they can make a difference,” he says. “America needs to try to put more of these contests in the hands of every student. There’s enough (competitions) out there to do it.”

Ibarra acknowledges competitions do increase a teacher’s workload, but it’s worthwhile because students learn “getting involved makes a difference.” Team Dead Weight has definitely learned that. Kron conceived their project idea one day at his father’s auto dealership. As he watched his dad clean up the shop one day, he noticed his father was about to throw lead wheel weights into the trash. “I knew lead was hazardous, and we couldn’t just do that,” Kron explains.

Kron, Roth, and Nelson researched environmental lead contamination from wheel weights, conducted surveys, and performed experiments with the weights to assess potential lead contamination. Although not an official member of the 2009 team, student Andrea Mundell also worked on the project, gathering data, attending meetings, and participating in the field trips. Based on their research, they created a brochure, “Dead Weight: The Hazards of Balancing Tires,” which they distributed to local tire service centers. They also took legislative action at local and state levels: On their website, they note, “We convinced our city council to eliminate lead wheel weights on city vehicles and our state legislators to introduce a bill banning the sale and installation of lead wheel weights in Iowa.”

Roth says the best part came after they submitted their project to the Siemens’ competition: “the anticipation to see if we had won.” Kron “was really excited” to learn the EPA is considering a ban on lead weights and says it is “a great feeling to know our project contributed to the [potential] law.”

One reason for their success, according to Ibarra, is “legislators like to listen to kids; they have no hidden agenda. Kids are doing this because they want to.” He also sees a need to educate legislators. Citing a legislator from another state who called a ban on lead wheel weights “a solution in search of a problem” since lead comes from the ground, Ibarra explains, “Policy makers need to be made aware of pollution hazards that exist. They vote on bills when they lack information about how the environment is impacted by the decision they make.”

The team has learned about more than just hazardous metals. Kron says he used to view science as “people in labs in white coats. Now I see it is many things, getting out and doing things for your environment.”

“The EPA decision is a great example of the kind of effect students can have,” says Francis Eberle, NSTA’s executive director. “The challenge is the result of a partnership among the Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education, and NSTA and was created to educate, empower, and engage students, teachers, and communities. Team Dead Weight embraced that challenge and is definitely making a difference in all of our communities.”

The challenge, launched in September 2008, was initially open only to middle school students. Students (and their teachers) were urged to become “Agents of Change” to improve their communities by identifying an environmental problem and proposing a solution. The 2010 program was expanded to include elementary school students; in 2011, K–12 students will be eligible to compete in grade-level categories.

For more information on the We Can Change the World Challenge, go to www.wecanchange.com. View Team Dead Weight’s website at http://lead zero.org.