For the third year in a row, Pleasant Gap Elementary sent teams to the Intermediate Unit 10 STEM Design Challenge. This year, Pleasant Gap sent six teams to the competition, the most it has ever sent. The teams were the Pink Vroombas, Blue Glass Melters, Yellow Screw Crew, Purple Patchers, Green Choppers, and the Red Paper Presses.
For this year’s challenge the students had to: design a section of a factory that produces a product using sustainable practices. Teams will create a prototype constructed of K’Nex and/or Engino (up to 1,400 pieces) that demonstrates how their machine works and how it supports environmentally responsible production. Prototypes should reflect sustainability principles—minimizing waste, maximizing efficiency, and/or simulating the use of recycled or reusable materials. Teams may also incorporate recycled or reused materials into other aspects of the model, such as signage, background settings, or factory displays, to further highlight their commitment to sustainability.
The students had two hours to complete their build and present their prototype to the judges. They had to keep a log of the work they had done over the 10 weeks leading up to the challenge. They also had to show the judges a notebook they completed showing the STEM process and a blueprint. The judges also asked the students to give a two-minute presentation and answer questions about their prototypes and the process.
The Yellow Screw Crew - made up of team members Rylan Shivery, Lyla Poorman, Elliott Smeltzer, and Jamie Granche - finished second out of nine teams. They are the highest finishing team from PG in the three years. They designed a robot that worked on solar power and would collect screws, bolts, and nuts off a factory floor and sort them to be reused.
The Red Paper Presses - with Abby Confer, Gabe Montarsi, Rachael Perryman, and Jackson Gabel - took third place. Their prototype was a machine that would compost and reuse scrap pieces of paper.
The other groups involved were the Pink Vroombas (Michael Smith, Amelia Durney, Luca Vail, Nora Myers), Blue Glass Melters (Izabel Tressler, Mackenzie Garman, Octavia Savage), Purple Patchers (Alice Bonchack, Lily Gause, Mikenli Szmal, Gideon Rock), and Green Choppers (Alex Lee, Maura DePasquale, Ronin Simpson, Braylin Van Dyke).
All of the students worked incredibly hard and Pleasant Gap Elementary is so proud of their efforts and creativity!
